Introduction Switzerland lacks comprehensive and accessible training about participatory health research. Our team, made up equally of researchers and patients/citizens, co-created an interactive online training module about participatory health research following user-centered design principles.¹ This 90-minutes module with 6th grade reading level texts, videos and exercises, targets patients, the public, researchers and health professionals. Our aim was to assess its acceptability and usability.

Method We collected quantitative and qualitative open-text feedback using a self-administered online questionnaire in a convenience sample of patients/citizens and researchers/health professionals. Participants could respond from 1 = strongly disagree to 9 = strongly agree. We used Morville’s User Experience Framework,² to assess whether the module was credible, useful, desirable, usable, and valuable. We also assessed the duration of the training and collected open-text comments.

Results 37 adults (18 patients/citizens, 17 researchers/health professionals, 1 patient/researcher and 1 other) completed the questionnaire, of which 29 women, 34 university graduates and 19 persons without participatory research experience. Results showed positive perceptions of usability, credibility, and overall quality. Those new to participatory research found it highly valuable, participants with experience found it less valuable (mean 8.2 vs 5.4/9, p<0.01). The latter tended to suggest more improvements (content addition and clarification).

Discussion We did not collect perceptions regarding training patients and researchers together. Experienced participants highlighted gaps in content rather than formatting, indicating a need to adapt content to participants’ level of experience.

Conclusion(s) Our module performed well on relevant criteria. Despite differences in the perceived value of the training between participants with more or less experience, the observed benefits support a joint training model. Flexible training content could meet the learning needs of participants with different experience levels, for example by accessing additional information through dropdown menus.

References

1. Formation en ligne. www.forces-sante.ch/formation (Accessed 15 Dec 2023)

2. User Experience Design.https://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/(Accessed 15 Dec 2023).