Does citizen science have the capacity to transform population health science?

Abstract

Citizen science engages members of the public in research design, data collection, and analysis – in asking and answering questions about the world around them. The United States, European Union, and Australia have placed citizen science at the forefront of national science policy. Journals such as Science, Nature and Bioscience regularly feature projects conducted by citizens. Citizen science engages millions of people worldwide. However, to date, population health science has not relied heavily on citizen contributions. Although community-based participatory action research remains a strong foundational method to engage those affected by public health problems, there is additional potential to mainstream population health through wider, less intensive opportunities to be involved in our science. If we are to tackle the complex challenges that face population health then new avenues are needed to capture the energy and attention of citizens who may not feel affected by public health problems, i.e. to engage the ‘by-standers’ in population health science. Particular types of citizen science methods have the potential to do this. But simply increasing the breadth and volume of scientific evidence will not be enough. Complex, intractable, macro-level problems in population health require change in how our journals and funding bodies respond to data generated by the public. Of course, democratisation of science and the potential decentralisation of scientific authority will bring deep challenges. But potentially it brings a future where population health science is better known, understood and respected, with benefits for the types of public policies that derive from this science.