Healthcare systems in developing countries often grapple with limited access, insufficient medical personnel and fragmented information flow between institutions and patients. Although governments are encouraged to tackle these structural challenges, digital innovation can provide complementary solutions. Among them, crowdsourcing emerges as a promising model to enhance e-health service delivery by engaging citizens in collaborative, data-driven healthcare. A newly developed methodological approach aims to integrate crowdsourcing into healthcare institutions through digital infrastructure and institutional web portals, with a focus on evaluating citizen readiness, particularly Generation Z, to participate in these services.
Towards an Integrated Crowdsourced e-Health Model
The proposed methodology outlines a framework for embedding crowdsourcing functionalities into healthcare institutions, ensuring alignment with national health information systems. Its foundation lies in the development of digital infrastructure capable of supporting cloud computing, blockchain and web platforms. These elements facilitate secure data exchange, enhance transparency and provide cost-effective solutions for service delivery. Each healthcare institution is expected to maintain a comprehensive web portal, incorporating real-time communication and collaboration tools, as well as e-payment and customer relationship management services.
Crowdsourcing features such as crowd wisdom, voting, creation and sensing are designed to engage a wide range of users, from patients to professionals, enabling them to propose solutions, report problems and even make donations. Data analytics capabilities, supported by artificial intelligence, allow institutions to monitor user activity, optimise services and inform decision-making processes. Flexibility and adaptability across primary, secondary and tertiary care levels ensure the model can respond to diverse institutional capacities and state regulations.
Assessing the Readiness of Digital Natives
The model's success depends heavily on public participation, prompting an empirical assessment of citizens’ readiness to engage with crowdsourced e-health services. A structured survey based on the Value-based Adoption Model (VAM) was administered to 1,153 respondents aged 18 to 25, a cohort selected for their digital fluency and openness to innovation. The survey examined ten hypotheses covering motivators such as enjoyment, skill development, autonomy, financial incentives, reputation and trust, alongside barriers like time consumption, effort and fear of losing knowledge power.
Data analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling confirmed that perceived value and behavioural control significantly influence a person’s intention to contribute. Trust in system operators emerged as the most influential factor driving perceived value. Additional motivators included task autonomy, financial compensation and opportunities for skill development. Conversely, concerns around effort, time and loss of knowledge power negatively affected perceived value. Enjoyment and reputation, despite their theoretical relevance, were not significant in this context, likely due to respondents' lack of direct experience with such services.
Operational Challenges and Broader Implications
Although the model shows potential, practical implementation remains constrained by infrastructural and societal barriers. Integrating institutional platforms with centralised national systems requires high levels of interoperability, which many healthcare settings still lack. Technical limitations are compounded by the need for improved digital literacy and training among both users and professionals. Without adequate education and support, the uptake of crowdsourced e-health services may fall short of expectations.
The methodology also depends on a cultural shift towards greater participation and co-responsibility in healthcare. Building trust and fostering engagement are essential for overcoming resistance and ensuring sustained use. While the current research focuses on a digitally native population, broader studies are needed to evaluate the readiness of older cohorts and professional stakeholders. These additional perspectives will provide a fuller understanding of adoption potential across the healthcare landscape.
A structured approach to crowdsourcing in e-health presents a feasible path towards more inclusive, participatory and efficient healthcare systems. By combining technological infrastructure with user engagement strategies, the model addresses both operational and behavioural aspects of digital healthcare adoption. Initial findings highlight the importance of trust, autonomy and perceived control in fostering participation. However, the success of crowdsourced e-health services will ultimately depend on the readiness of healthcare systems to support integration, the willingness of users to engage and the commitment of institutions to promote and sustain these innovations across diverse populations.
Source: Health Informatics Journal
Image Credit: iStock
