Explaining health technology platforms to non-technical members of the public is an important part of the process of informed consent. Complex technology platforms that deal with safety-critical areas are particularly challenging, often operating within private domains (e.g. health services within the home) and used by individuals with various understandings of hardware, software, and algorithmic design. Through two studies, the first an interview and the second an observational study, we questioned how experts (e.g. those who designed, built, and installed a technology platform) supported provision of informed consent by participants. We identify a wide range of tools, techniques, and adaptations used by experts to explain the complex SPHERE sensor-based home health platform, provide implications for the design of tools to aid explanations, suggest opportunities for interactive explanations, present the range of information needed, and indicate future research possibilities in communicating technology platforms.

A detailed understanding of the mental health needs of people from refugee backgrounds is crucial for the design of inclusive mental health technologies. We present a qualitative account of the digital mental health experiences of women from refugee backgrounds. Working with community members and community workers of a charitable organisation for refugee women in the UK, we identify social and structural challenges, including loneliness and access to mental health technologies. Participants' accounts document their collective agency in addressing these challenges and supporting social connectedness and personal wellbeing in daily life: participants reported taking part in community activities as volunteers, sharing technological expertise, and using a wide range of non-mental health-focused technologies to support their mental health, from playing games to supporting religious practices. Our findings suggest that, rather than focusing only on individual self-care, research also needs to leverage community-driven approaches to foster social mental health experiences, from altruism to connectedness and belonging.

Gaining an understanding of people's diverse mental health needs is essential for informing the design of inclusive mental health technologies. However, conversations about mental health experiences can be challenging for both researchers and participants. We present the design of visual cards that illustrate an inclusive mental health concept to support researchers and participants in understanding and sharing mental health experiences. We illustrate the iterative design of the visual cards with our reflections and feedback from ethnically diverse participants. We found that designing the visual cards fostered insightful reflections within the design team regarding the roles of identity, gender, and ethnicity in designing culturally sensitive content and research. Participants from minority ethnic backgrounds valued the illustrative elements of the visual cards and highlighted the importance of supporting different languages and visual cultures. We discuss use cases for the visual cards and implications for designing culturally sensitive mental health technologies.

Words and language are central to most human communication. This paper explores the importance of language for the participatory design of smart home technologies for healthcare. We argue that to effectively involve a broad range of users in the design of new technologies, it is important to actively develop a shared language that is accessible to and owned by all stakeholders, and that facilitates productive dialogues among them. Our discussion is grounded firstly in work with end users, in which problematic language emerged as a key barrier to participation and effective design. Three specific categories of language barriers are identified: jargon, ambiguity, and emotive words. Building on this we undertook a workshop and focus group, respectively involving researchers developing smart health technologies and users, where the focus was on generating a shared language. We discuss this process, including examples that emerged of alternative terminology and specific strategies for creating a shared language.

Current demographic and health trends mean it is becoming imperative to rethink healthcare provision worldwide. This paper introduces SPHERE, a large-scale Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration that aims to make a contribution to addressing this challenge. Specifically, SPHERE is developing a smart home system based on a common platform of non-medical/environmental sensors to address a variety of healthcare needs. In order to achieve its goal of widespread deployment, SPHERE technology must meet the requirements of its envisaged users. In this paper we present the rationale and methodology of an ethnographic study of people's experiences of health and technology. The aim of this study was to gather rich contextual data to inform the design of meaningful and inclusive healthcare technology.

Designing effective home healthcare technologies is a complex task. In order to succeed, it is important to look beyond purely technology-driven solutions and to develop technologies and services that are flexible and reflect a sensitive understanding of the diverse users of such systems. The key contribution of this paper is to introduce 15 empirically derived attributes that can help designers to build a more detailed understanding of the potential users of home healthcare systems. The attributes are spread across four broad themes: technology in the home, experiences of technology, experiences of health and care, and thoughts about smart home technology for health and care. These themes and attributes emerged from an ethnographic study in which we interviewed people across 15 households. All interviews took place in people’s homes and were supplemented by home technology tours and cultural probes. It is intended that the 15 attributes be used in conjunction with demographic and household data to build a richer picture of personal experiences of home, health, and technology in real-life contexts. The aim was to provide an inclusive framework, based on empirically derived attributes, that helps to inform an overall user-centred design approach. To demonstrate one application of the attributes in design, the paper provides in-depth example of their use in the development of a rich set of data-driven personas.