A groundbreaking methodology for gauging public attitudes toward health data sharing is creating significant opportunities for healthcare organisations seeking to build social license for digital health initiatives.
The Comfort Board Methodology, developed by Professor Anna Brown from Massey University's Toi Āria: Design for Public Good, represents a strategic shift toward community-centred approaches in digital health implementation. Recent specialised training coordinated by QDHeC's PhD candidate Dr Tuan Duong as part of the National infrastructure for real-time clinical AI trials (NASCENT) project, introduced Queensland healthcare professionals to this transformative approach.
“The Comfort Board offers healthcare organisations a structured pathway to address digital health's most persistent challenge of building the trust and acceptance required for patients to share their personal health data,“ said Dr Duong.
“This participatory tool democratises discussions around health data use, giving consumers a structured way to express their comfort levels and concerns.
“This creates opportunities for greater community engagement, enhancing the ability to identify risks and barriers earlier and facilitating more meaningful dialogue between healthcare professionals, developers and community members.”
The methodology addresses growing recognition within Queensland's health sector of the need for community-centred digital health implementation. Social license - ongoing approval by communities - has become essential for successful technology adoption.
The Comfort Board enables organisations to systematically assess community readiness, identify specific concerns, develop targeted communication strategies, and create ongoing dialogue channels between providers and consumers.
"What we're seeing is that communities want to be part of the conversation about how their health data is used," said Dr Duong.
"The Comfort Board gives them that voice while providing healthcare organisations with actionable insights they can actually implement."
Professor Brown's methodology has gained international attention for bridging the gap between technological innovation and community acceptance. For Queensland's healthcare sector, this presents opportunities to lead in ethical, community-centred digital health approaches.
The NASCENT project at the Queensland Digital Health Centre is collaborating with a team of researchers at the UQ Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the SocioHealthLab to explore social license around AI use in health care.
