Crowdsourcing for adolescent health: development and evaluation of a tool to collect data on the state and determinants of adolescent physical health

在青春期的成长和找工作的过程中，我们会养成一些行为，比如我们锻炼或吃了多少，这些都会影响我们以后的生活。需要研究来帮助我们了解哪些行为会让我们的健康变得更好或更糟，以及是什么影响了这些行为。一些行为更容易衡量，我们的手机甚至有技术可以计算我们每天走了多少步。然而，其他行为更难衡量，它们可能会令人尴尬或更难解释，因为它们与情感有关。我们认为，重要的是，人们可以在事情发生时记录下来(而不是试图在以后回忆起来)。健康研究人员需要能够收集人们生活中的几种类型的数据，有人建议智能手机应用程序可以做到这一点。应用程序被用于研究，以帮助我们了解不同的疾病，如COVID，但在这样的应用程序中，人们有理由拿起手机使用它-他们从中得到了非常明显的好处。因此，我们需要探索青少年使用健康应用程序的原因。例如，我们已经从参与我们自己的研究或其他研究的年轻人那里听说，他们使用应用程序来跟踪身体活动、饮食和月经。家长们还告诉我们，对青少年来说，跟踪健康状况是一种很好的手机用途。我们想知道人们是否会有动力使用这款应用来报告什么事情让他们的健康变得更好或更糟，或者改变他们的行为。我们的想法是，通过与其他年轻人分享关于改善或降低他们健康的地方或情况的信息，年轻人将成为公民科学家。收集到的信息将成为证据，与班主任或政客等决策人员分享，从而改善地方或情况，每个人都可以更健康。我们还将确保这款应用程序方便快捷地使用，只提出适当的问题。这款应用程序需要保护信息的隐私，并与研究人员安全地共享数据。在项目期间，我们将与年轻人和父母一起开发这款应用的这些不同功能，以确保它符合人们想要和将使用的东西，在适当的地方是有趣的，在需要的地方也是严肃和令人放心的-我们理解健康数据对人们很重要，我们希望人们在使用这款应用时感到舒适。我们将首先与来自不同地区和背景的一小群年轻人合作，以确保这款应用程序能为很多人服务。最终，我们将在学校和社区对这款应用进行大规模测试。活动将为许多年轻人分享他们的想法和想法，被称为黑客攻击和设计堵塞，帮助设计这款应用。年轻人还将决定这款应用的名称。然后，这款应用程序将被用于研究，帮助我们了解如何帮助改善健康。年轻人本身也将成为科学家，能够审查和使用他们自己的数据来改善他们的健康和福祉，并使他们生活、学习和工作的地方变得更健康。

While growing up through adolescence and going on to get work we develop behaviours, like how much we exercise or eat, that impact on the rest of our lives. Research is needed to help us understand what behaviours change our health for better or worse, and what influences those behaviours. Some behaviours are easier to measure, and we even have technology in our phones that can count how many steps we do each day. However, other behaviours are more difficult to measure, they might be embarrassing or harder for people to explain because they relate to feelings. We think it's important that people can record things at the time they happen (rather trying to recall them later). Health researchers need to be able to collect several types of data from people as they go about their lives, and it has been recommended that smartphone apps might be a way to do this.Apps have been used in research to help us understand different diseases like COVID but in apps like these, people have a reason to pick up the phone and use it - they get a very clear benefit from it. So, we need to explore the reasons a teenager would use a health app. We have already heard from young people taking part in our own research or other studies that they use apps to track physical activity, diet, and periods, for example. Parents have also told us that tracking health is a good use of a phone for teenagers. We want to know if people would be motivated to use the app to report when something makes their health better or worse, or changes their behaviour. Our idea is that by sharing information with other young people about places or situations that improve or reduce their health, young people will become citizen scientists. The information collected becoming evidence to share with people who make decisions like head teachers or politicians, so that the places or situations improve, and everyone can be healthier.We will also make sure that the app is easy and quick to use, only asking appropriate questions. The app will need to keep the information private and safely share the data with researchers. During the project we will develop these different features of the app with young people and parents to make sure it fits with what people want and would use, being fun where appropriate but also serious and reassuring where required - we understand that health data is important to people and we want people to feel comfortable using this app. We will start by working with small groups of young people from different places and backgrounds to make sure the app works for lots of people. Eventually we will run big tests of the app with schools and communities. Events will be organised for lots of young people to share their thoughts and ideas, called hack-a-thons and design jams, helping to design the app. Young people will also decide on a name for the app. The app will then be used in research studies to help us learn how to help improve health. The young people themselves will also be scientists able to review and use their own data to improve their health and wellbeing, and make where they live, study and work healthier places.