Award Winner for Volume 13
Communicating Research as a Public Discussion: The PHED Commission on the Future of Health Care Post-COVID 19
Often phrased in terms of “societal relevance” and “societal impact,” academic researchers are increasingly expected to design projects that engage with the public and policymakers both through communicating research outputs as well as inclusion within data collection and processing. This article reports on one such engagement initiative that was, paradoxically, a response to the state of mass social isolation imposed on many in the context of the 2020 pandemic. What became known as the “PHED Commission on the Future of Health Post-COVID 19” created a virtual environment that stretched across academic and professional fields, inviting a broad range of actors to provide evidence that was archived (i.e., videoed) and published online and later turned into a written report. In discussing the “Commission,” the article highlights the lessons learned during the process, including the tensions and solutions by which to help contribute to public debates and have societal impact. While we hope that the pandemic remains an exception, we argue that it is important to see where we can benefit from the innovations developed in that moment of crisis while not ignoring the strengths of traditional research practices. Such transdisciplinary activities are, the article argues, important to knowledge that can help advance health and equity.
The PHED Commission discussed in the paper grew to become something much bigger than initially planned, collaborating with many friends to reach out to highly qualified and esteemed participants willing to give ‘evidence’ to the process. It stood out as an unusual yet timely way to bring research findings and debates to society. The Commission’s two reports were written for a non-academic audience to support those working in healthcare and trying to build a better future for human health. They remain calling cards for the work of those involved, but also help connect a diverse range of perspectives from the field that show the need for further interdisciplinarity within health and wellness studies. On a personal level, the PHED Commission has stayed with me in the different academic and public outreach events, including two invitations to Chatham House Roundtable talks around global health equity, as well as most recently one at the Sorbonne. It also formed the education for my current research on the politics of AI in healthcare, which touches upon so many of the issues raised in the Commission, including health literacy, communication, access, and political economy. That work, which includes establishing an AI Politics Hub, made it possible to speak across diverse fields and keep health central to how we think about AI’s role in society. Undertaking the kind of societal engagement involved in the PHED Commission also brought new meaning to my research, seeing the relevance of often otherwise seemingly abstract issues around system design and democracy to ensuring good healthcare outcomes and wellness.
—Michael Strange