WHRI Digital Health Survey
2023 Digital Health Survey
To understand the current scope of digital health research at both BCCHR and WHRI being led by institutional investigators and trainees, the barriers and facilitators to their success, the joint Steering Committee for Digital Health Research launched another Digital Health Survey in December 2023. Some initial key results that we would like to share are below. Stay tuned for our full summary report next month, where we will dive deeper into the survey findings and provide valuable recommendations.
1. Categories of survey respondents: Most of our survey respondents are affiliated with BCCHR.
2. Specific roles at BCCHR/WHRI: For those who selected BCCHR/WHRI, most of them are administrative/professional staff, followed by PI and graduate students.
3. Technology Readiness Levels (total count 19): 4/19 indicated that their projects are at the highest TRL 9, while most other participants’ projects are within TRL 1-5.
4. Types of Technology: Website and mobile applications are the most two common types of technology that are used/developed at C&W.
5. Levels of importance that participants like to receive support: In general, all 11 areas have been identified as needing support based on the total number of responses received. When grouping ‘critically important,’ ‘very important,’ and ‘important’ together, ‘Ease of navigating regulatory requirements around privacy/ethics/security’ (98%), ‘In-house digital health development, data management, and IT support’ (91%) and ‘Promoting clinical implementation of digital health interventions developed at C&W’ (86%) emerge as the three areas of greatest importance among all responses. Despite ‘Commercialization or scale-up’ (28%) and ‘Ease of access to province-wide population data and large cohort data’ (22%) receiving slightly more votes for ‘Not important’ and ‘Slightly important,’ over 70% of respondents still consider them as important areas to receive support.
2021 Digital Health Survey
Realizing the rapid adoption of digital tools in research and health service delivery, the WHRI conducted the 2021 Digital Health Survey among WHRI members and staff between May 7 and June 22, 2021, to understand how the WHRI can support digital health research.
The survey results revealed widespread involvement and interest in digital health research and a transition to digital workflows during the pandemic. The respondents also identified preferred ways that the WHRI can support research, such as providing expertise on digital health research and evaluation best practices and facilitating opportunities for funding and collaboration with experts and innovators. These findings are directly informing WHRI’s programs and activities which aim to catalyze innovative research.
To learn more about the survey findings and recommendations, download the summary report below. The survey results revealed widespread involvement and interest in digital health research and a transition to digital workflows during the pandemic. The respondents also identified preferred ways that the WHRI can support research, such as providing expertise on digital health research and evaluation best practices and facilitating opportunities for funding and collaboration with experts and innovators. These findings are directly informing WHRI’s programs and activities which aim to catalyze innovative research.
To learn more about the survey findings and recommendations, download the summary report below. The WHRI plans to conduct this survey annually, to ensure support is aligned with members’ priorities and needs, in this quickly evolving space.