Significance of Citizen Science

Acc. to my opinion it bridges the gap between the general population and science the relevance can be seen as since we as public health work force should understand the needs of public on the ground level and merging it with science we can develop a better solution for the existing health problems. With this engaging the population in real time research can better make them aware and can enhance health communication among them. 

//www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.650760/full

There are three types of citizen science: (a) contributing, (b) collaborative, and (c) co-created.
1. Contributory citizen science only includes citizen scientists in data collecting.
2. Collaborative citizen science involves community members in data analysis and interpretation.
3. Co-created citizen science expands participation to defining the problem and transferring research findings into public health impact (Rowbotham et al).

According to the article, this is the first initiative focused on increasing capacity for the use of citizen science approaches in health promotion and public health. We have developed a variety of capacity-building strategies based on knowledge mobilization principles, such as gaining hands-on project experience (research in practice), sharing advice, support, and evidence to support the use of citizen science (brokering knowledge), contributing to the evidence base on the feasibility, acceptability, and impacts of citizen science in public health (producing knowledge), and bringing stakeholders together to share challenges (2).

Recommendations to strengthen the field of citizen science to address health inequities: Expand citizen science to include subjects relevant to health equity, Increase the diversity of individuals in the community serving as citizen scientists, especially those facing health disparities, Increase the participation of citizen scientists in additional stages of research, Continue to develop emerging technologies that enable citizen scientists to collect, understand, and present data in engaging ways in order to achieve health equity (3).

References:

1. Rowbotham S, McKinnon M, Leach J, Lamberts R, Hawe P. Does citizen science have the capacity to transform population health science? Crit. Public Health 29:118–28

2. Rowbotham, S., Walker, P., Marks, L., Irving, M., Benjamin John Smith, & Laird, Y. (2023). Building capacity for citizen science in health promotion: a collaborative knowledge mobilisation approach. Research Involvement and Engagement, 9(1). //doi.org/10.1186/s40900-023-00451-4

3. The Role of Citizen Science in Promoting Health Equity. (2022). Annual Reviews. //www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-102856

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Citizen science is an emerging approach to enabling public involvement at scale, which therefore has the potential to contribute to several public health system transformation. The European Commission has defined citizen science as public engagement in scientific research activities, where citizens actively contribute to science either with their intellectual effort, surrounding knowledge, or their tools and resources (1). These activities are often facilitated by information and communication technologies (2, 3).

Despite all the questions and doubts, Citizen Science has much to offer for public health research. Citizen science as a way to collect data with lay people’s help may be particularly useful in the field of infectious diseases. For example, bird flu outbreaks may be more rapidly detected with the help of a network of citizen scientists such as hobby farmers or bird watchers . Lay people’s input can also be helpful for environmental health monitoring. (4)

Citizen Science is reported to yield benefits for scientists, policy makers, lay people and communities (1). These can be grouped in three categories: increased research capacity, better knowledge and citizen benefits. 

There may be many barriers to citizen science in biomedicine and in healthcare, including those of disseminating the work effectively. These barriers can be addressed with effort, time, additional resources, upskilling, mentorship, or pure elbow grease and determination by citizen scientists. In other cases, the barriers can be worked around or the goal can be achieved through other methods. Citizen scientists may leverage existing organizations as umbrella partners for their work; tie their work to a broad topical area or disciplinary focus; or use mainstream or online media to help raise awareness about the need and fit of their work. All hands on deck are needed to address many pressing issues in biomedicine and healthcare, and citizen scientists can play a vital role in filling knowledge gaps and solving the pressing problems our communities face by disseminating their work. Future work should further highlight or compare experiences between novice traditional researchers and those of citizen scientists, as well as explore the differences between the experiences of citizen scientists in health and biomedicine and their experiences in other fields. (5)

References:

Citizen science (CS) is a participatory research approach which is being widely used in healthcare (1) A recent study engaged grown-up adults and public stakeholders of Birmingham, UK with the objective of identifying factors effecting age friendliness and provide recommendation on how local urban areas can be made more age friendly. The results interestingly demonstrated how the involvement of local citizens enabled the researchers identify age-friendly pathways in urban settings as well as the barriers which cam hinder active and healthy aging experiences. The research concludes with development of a framework for the implementation and action-oriented recommendations to promote health aging (2).

Moreover, a study however emphasised upon limited evidences on how it can be used to address, health promotion and prevention of chronic diseases. The results of which indicated few stakeholders and policy makers had little or no experience of CS usage. CS was also perceived as a platform for engagement, access data, engage community. However, a need has been expressed to expand use of CS in promoting community awareness and engagement in public health along with a supporting network including infrastructure and building capacities of public health organizations (1)

Thus, indicating a need to integrate “citizen science” to address community health issues and explore the possibilities to use it in healthcare.

1. Marks L, Smith BJ, Mitchell J, Laird Y, Rowbotham S. The case for citizen science in public health policy and practice: a mixed methods study of policymaker and practitioner perspectives and experiences. Health Research Policy and Systems [Internet]. 2023 May 1 [cited 2023 Oct 17];21:31. Available from: //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10152701/

2. Wood GER, Pykett J, Banchoff A, King AC, Stathi A. Employing citizen science to enhance active and healthy ageing in urban environments. Health & Place. 2023 Jan;79:102954.

1. Rosas, L. G., Espinosa, P. R., Jimenez, F. M., & King, A. C. (2021). The Role of Citizen Science in Promoting Health Equity. Annual Review of Public Health, 43(1). //doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-102856
2. Rowbotham, S., Walker, P., Marks, L., Irving, M., Benjamin John Smith, & Laird, Y. (2023). Building capacity for citizen science in health promotion: a collaborative knowledge mobilisation approach. Research Involvement and Engagement, 9(1). //doi.org/10.1186/s40900-023-00451-4
3. Marks, L., Smith, B. J., Mitchell, J., Laird, Y., & Rowbotham, S. (2023). The case for citizen science in public health policy and practice: a mixed methods study of policymaker and practitioner perspectives and experiences. Health Research Policy and Systems, 21, 31. //doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-00978-8
4. Marks, L., Laird, Y., Trevena, H., Smith, B. J., & Rowbotham, S. (2022). A Scoping Review of Citizen Science Approaches in Chronic Disease Prevention. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. //doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.743348

The application of citizen science for scientific discoveries is dependent on the scientific community's approval of this method. An analysis of all published articles on "citizen science" using Web of Science and Scopus as the source of peer reviewed articles confirmed its growth, and discovered that significant research on methodology and validation techniques preceded the rapid rise of publications on research outcomes based on citizen science methods. The expanding number of studies depending on the re-use of acquired datasets from previous citizen science research initiatives, which employed data from either solitary or numerous citizen science projects for new findings, such as climate change research, is of particular interest.

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As it is mentioned by the reputable member, Citizen Science(CS) is a need of the modern era of research science.It can be incorporated to various domains to achieve maximum and sustainable outcome.To beat the infodemics, CS plays a big role. 

By harnessing the potential of digitally enabled citizen science, one could translate data into accessible, comprehensible and actionable outputs at the population level(Tan et al., 2022).It can be incorporated in the management steps of infodemics such as social listening,delivering of high quality of information,engagae and empower community engagement etc(Briand et al., 2023).

Govt of Kerala has also initiated CS into practical work in the field of wildlife research (Web Circuit India, 2023)

Reference:

//doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009389 ‌" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tan, Y.-R., Agrawal, A., Malebona Precious Matsoso, Katz, R., Davis, S., Andrea Sylvia Winkler, Huber, A., Joshi, A., Ayman El-Mohandes, Mellado, B., Caroline Antonia Mubaira, Canlas, F. C., Gershim Asiki, Harjyot Khosa, Lazarus, J. V., Choisy, M., Recamonde‐Mendoza, M., Keiser, O., Okwen, P., & English, R. (2022). A call for citizen science in pandemic preparedness and response: beyond data collection. BMJ Global Health, 7(6), e009389–e009389. //doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009389 ‌

//www.kfri.res.in/centre-for-citizen-science-and-biodiversity-Informatics.asp ‌" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Circuit India. (2023). KFRI - Centre for Citizen Science and Biodiversity Informatics (CCSBI). Kfri.res.in. //www.kfri.res.in/centre-for-citizen-science-and-biodiversity-Informatics.asp ‌

//doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27789-4_1 ‌" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Briand, S., Hess, S., Nguyen, T., & Purnat, T. D. (2023). Infodemic Management in the Twenty-First Century. Springer EBooks, 1–16. //doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27789-4_1 ‌