Unprecedented advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are poised to transform every dimension of health and care, reshaping how people access information, make decisions, and collaborate to improve outcomes. While current efforts often focus on AI use by health professionals to gain efficiencies and reduce costs, there has been less attention to participatory approaches: how patients, caregivers, the public, clinicians, researchers, and other stakeholders can actively use, shape, and cocreate AI in ways that improve health, strengthen relationships, and foster trust. As costs and complexities rise, collaborative and consumer-driven uses of AI are set to accelerate.
The Journal of Participatory Medicine invites submissions for a new section titled “Participatory Artificial Intelligence for Health.” This e-collection will explore the use, co-design, and impact of AI in health from the perspectives of all stakeholders—patients, the public, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers—working together to design AI that is effective, equitable, and human-centered.
The internet has democratized health information and empowered people to take a more active role in their care; participatory AI promises to extend these opportunities for self-care, shared decision-making, and collaborative problem-solving. Yet, the dawn of AI brings new risks. To ensure that AI serves human needs, all stakeholders must be meaningfully involved at every stage of development—from idea generation to evaluation—so tools align with real-world priorities and respect privacy, security, and equity.
We welcome original research, reviews, viewpoints, and rigorous case studies that address opportunities, challenges, and gaps in the participatory use of AI in health. We especially encourage articles coauthored by diverse stakeholders, such as patient advocates, clinicians, developers, and policymakers.
Submissions to this call for papers may explore, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Research on the experience, value, and impact of participatory AI tools in health
- How different stakeholders—including patients, caregivers, clinicians, and the public—use generative AI (eg, ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) to learn about health, understand data, make care decisions, or change behavior
- Perspectives on AI chatbots, virtual assistants, wearables, dashboards, virtual reality, and other tools in answering questions, assessing symptoms, or facilitating communication
- How AI-powered devices and applications that collect and analyze health data influence behavior, decisions, and outcomes
Co-production and co-design of AI tools
- Involving people with lived experience, clinicians, researchers, and technologists in the design, development, or deployment of AI applications
- Public and stakeholder partnership in AI research, from priority-setting to evaluation
- Democratic deliberation on privacy, ethics, bias, governance, and responsible use of personal health data
Research on the clinical use of AI tools that interact directly with people
- Exploring stakeholder perspectives on clinician-driven AI tools directed at patients, caregivers, or communities (eg, AI-generated responses to patient messages)
- Understanding how participatory input can improve the usability, accuracy, and acceptability of clinical AI tools
How to Submit:
Please submit to the Journal of Participatory Medicine by selecting “Participatory Artificial Intelligence for Health” in the “Section” drop-down list. See Instructions for Authors in our Knowledge Base for more information on how to submit a manuscript.
Submission Guidelines:
All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process, and accepted articles will be published as part of the “Participatory Artificial Intelligence for Health” e-collection. Standard APF applies.
All articles submitted to this e-collection will be shared and published rapidly through the following mechanisms:
- All peer-reviewed articles in this e-collection will be immediately and permanently made open access. This is the standard for all titles within the JMIR Publications portfolio.
- Articles can be made immediately available in JMIR Preprints (with a DOI) after submission if authors select the preprint option to enable this service.
Submissions not reviewed or accepted for publication in this Journal of Participatory Medicine e-collection may be offered a cascading peer review or a transfer to other JMIR Publications journals, according to standard publisher policies. For example, early-stage formative work that informs the design of future interventions or research may better fit the scope for JMIR Formative Research. Authors are encouraged to submit study protocols or grant proposals to JMIR Research Protocols before data acquisition to preregister the study (for Registered Reports, subsequent acceptance in one of the JMIR Publications journals is guaranteed).