New Publication by MAYA Partners: Co-research in the Development of AI and Digital Health Tools for Cancer Care

We are pleased to share a new open-access systematic review published in BMC Health Services Research on 30 April 2026 by researchers from the MAYA consortium.

Title: Co-research in the development of AI and digital health tools for cancer management and care: a systematic review

About the Study

As artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies increasingly reshape cancer care, ensuring that patients, survivors, and caregivers have a meaningful say in their development has never been more important. This systematic review examines how participatory approaches — including co-research, co-design, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), and Participatory Action Research (PAR) — are being applied in the development of AI and digital health tools for cancer management.

The review screened 2,742 records and analysed 40 empirical studies published between 2010 and 2025.

Key Findings

• Co-design dominates early stages. Participatory approaches are most commonly used in the early phases of tool development — such as requirements identification, content co-creation, and usability testing — but remain limited in later phases like implementation, auditing, and governance.
• Patients and clinicians lead, others lag. Involvement centred primarily on patients/survivors and clinicians, with caregivers and policy-level stakeholders comparatively under-represented.
• AI-specific participation is rare. Few studies addressed participation in AI-specific development stages such as model training, validation, or explainability.
• Ethical outcomes are seldom measured. Very few studies explicitly measured trust, fairness, or transparency as outcomes, despite these being central concerns in responsible AI development.

Why It Matters for MAYA

This publication is directly relevant to the MAYA project's mission. As MAYA develops AI-driven digital tools to empower Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) cancer survivors in managing their cardiovascular health, embedding meaningful co-research throughout the entire technology lifecycle — not just at the design stage — is a key priority. The findings of this review highlight both the progress made across the field and the gaps that projects like MAYA are uniquely positioned to address.

Access the Publication

The article is published open access and freely available: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-026-14620-0?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20260618&utm_content=10.1186%2Fs12913-026-14620-0