Engaging food hypersensitive communities in citizen science
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bath
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
Eating food prepared outside the home when you have a food hypersensitivity (FH) risks quality of life and causes stress and anxiety, because it is associated with an increased likelihood of accidental or unwanted consumption of allergens. This is a significant challenge to the FSA given that their aim is to protect the UK consumer from the health risks posed by FH.
Citizen scientists with FH are ideally placed to actively engage with addressing this issue and contribute detailed first-hand observations and reflections around their experiences of eating food prepared away from the home. A citizen science approach that is compliant with the ECSA ten principles of citizen science, engaging those that by definition are motivated to avoid allergens, can provide detailed, relevant and focused information about eating outside the home encounters spanning restaurants, cafes, work places, schools, hospitals as well as at social occasions in homes eating food that is prepared by others.
Engaging with experts and stakeholder organisations that are committed to improving policy and practise in this area is key to this pilot research project and their input as collaborators is foundational to deriving and addressing the aims of the project: to (1) collect key information from citizens with a food hypersensitivity about how they assess allergen risk when eating food prepared outside the home, and (2) assess the future feasibility of engaging those with FH as citizen scientists.
These aims will be addressed in 3 work packages (WPs)
Work Package 1 (M1-2) We will hold workshops with key stakeholders and citizens to codesign the data that the citizen scientists will be asked to collect. We have agreed with our collaborators that a citizen science team of between 75-100 people will consist of (a) people with a FH aged over 16 and (b) parents of children aged under 16 with a FH. We will seek to ensure a mix of participants in terms of nature and severity of food hypersensitivity, geographic location and socio-demographic characteristics who will be recruited through our collaborators and through existing contacts.
Work Package 2 (M3-6) We will engage the citizen scientists by asking them to contribute information about their eating out experience online via their phones/tablets or PC at the time of, or soon after the event. The information designed in WP1 will be collected using software often used in citizen science settings (ESRI Survey123). They can also upload photos to accompany other information that they record. We will coordinate and support the citizen science participants throughout and offer encouragement and acknowledgement of their contributions. Reflection will be invited from 10% of the citizen scientists in short interviews.
Work Package 3 (M7) We will hold an online workshop to have a dialogue with the citizen scientists to reflect and feedback on project findings. A second online workshop with project collaborators and partners will discuss the project findings, the reflections of citizen scientists on these, and what the implications are for relevant industry, policy and practitioner stakeholders.
Citizen scientists with FH are ideally placed to actively engage with addressing this issue and contribute detailed first-hand observations and reflections around their experiences of eating food prepared away from the home. A citizen science approach that is compliant with the ECSA ten principles of citizen science, engaging those that by definition are motivated to avoid allergens, can provide detailed, relevant and focused information about eating outside the home encounters spanning restaurants, cafes, work places, schools, hospitals as well as at social occasions in homes eating food that is prepared by others.
Engaging with experts and stakeholder organisations that are committed to improving policy and practise in this area is key to this pilot research project and their input as collaborators is foundational to deriving and addressing the aims of the project: to (1) collect key information from citizens with a food hypersensitivity about how they assess allergen risk when eating food prepared outside the home, and (2) assess the future feasibility of engaging those with FH as citizen scientists.
These aims will be addressed in 3 work packages (WPs)
Work Package 1 (M1-2) We will hold workshops with key stakeholders and citizens to codesign the data that the citizen scientists will be asked to collect. We have agreed with our collaborators that a citizen science team of between 75-100 people will consist of (a) people with a FH aged over 16 and (b) parents of children aged under 16 with a FH. We will seek to ensure a mix of participants in terms of nature and severity of food hypersensitivity, geographic location and socio-demographic characteristics who will be recruited through our collaborators and through existing contacts.
Work Package 2 (M3-6) We will engage the citizen scientists by asking them to contribute information about their eating out experience online via their phones/tablets or PC at the time of, or soon after the event. The information designed in WP1 will be collected using software often used in citizen science settings (ESRI Survey123). They can also upload photos to accompany other information that they record. We will coordinate and support the citizen science participants throughout and offer encouragement and acknowledgement of their contributions. Reflection will be invited from 10% of the citizen scientists in short interviews.
Work Package 3 (M7) We will hold an online workshop to have a dialogue with the citizen scientists to reflect and feedback on project findings. A second online workshop with project collaborators and partners will discuss the project findings, the reflections of citizen scientists on these, and what the implications are for relevant industry, policy and practitioner stakeholders.
Technical Summary
There is no cure for food hypersensitivity (FH). Managing FH primarily means seeking to avoid allergens. Addressing this FSA Area of Research Interest means identifying ways in which the FSA can protect the consumer from the health risks posed by FH. One of the riskiest areas, and the most likely to cause stress and anxiety, and hospitalisation, is eating food prepared by others. Understanding the detail of how eating out encounters are undertaken, what information is sought or provided and how this is done is therefore vital.
The primary route to engaging people with FH to be citizen scientists will be through our network of collaborators. The key FH charities - Anaphylaxis Campaign, Allergy UK, Coeliac UK, Allergy Action and the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation - have committed time to the project and to help us in recruitment. We also have details from a previous project of participants that gave permission to be recontacted for University of Bath research. Our experiences of conducting previous research in this area has indicated that participants with a FH are keen and motivated to be part of projects and accordingly we are confident that the proposed numbers will be achieved. In addition, recruitment and retention of project participants will be boosted by engaging citizens in a project with outcomes that are of direct and tangible benefit to themselves.
We anticipate a number of benefits from citizen involvement. First citizen scientists will be motivated to provide detailed, context specific information about their experiences of ordering and eating food prepared by others. Second, it will be valuable to garner the reflections of citizen scientists about how they found the process, what they learned, and what potential do they feel that citizen science around FH has for the FSA in the longer term. Finally, it will be valuable to gather feedback from citizen scientists about the nature of the pilot project findings themselves.
The primary route to engaging people with FH to be citizen scientists will be through our network of collaborators. The key FH charities - Anaphylaxis Campaign, Allergy UK, Coeliac UK, Allergy Action and the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation - have committed time to the project and to help us in recruitment. We also have details from a previous project of participants that gave permission to be recontacted for University of Bath research. Our experiences of conducting previous research in this area has indicated that participants with a FH are keen and motivated to be part of projects and accordingly we are confident that the proposed numbers will be achieved. In addition, recruitment and retention of project participants will be boosted by engaging citizens in a project with outcomes that are of direct and tangible benefit to themselves.
We anticipate a number of benefits from citizen involvement. First citizen scientists will be motivated to provide detailed, context specific information about their experiences of ordering and eating food prepared by others. Second, it will be valuable to garner the reflections of citizen scientists about how they found the process, what they learned, and what potential do they feel that citizen science around FH has for the FSA in the longer term. Finally, it will be valuable to gather feedback from citizen scientists about the nature of the pilot project findings themselves.
| Description | The aim of this citizen science research pilot project was to identify what most contributed to a positive eating out experience. In particular we considered the stages and components of the eating out journey that are most formative of a good eating out experience for those with food hypersensitivity (FHS). The quantitative analysis indicated that overall the most consistent predictor of being happy with the eating out experience and feeling welcome at the venue was a positive experience at the pre-planning stage. The most important indicators of a good experience at the pre-planning stage were (a) whether the information found was sufficient to make a confident decision concerning the allergen(s) that needed to be avoided, (b) whether the allergen information given was understandable or accessible, and (c) there was a significant negative association when allergen information was wanted but unable to be found. Seeking information on line was the key pre-planning strategy. Overwhelmingly the main source of online information was the website of the establishment. The availability and accessibility of allergen information on websites was not simply a means to reassure whether there would be suitable meal options. It also served as an indication of, and a proxy for, the overall stance that the venue had to welcoming those with a food hypersensitivity. Confidence sometimes derived from a more general appraisal of the extent of the visibility of information and attention that was given to allergens rather than from the presence of allergen filter and selection tools. In terms of particular tools, allergen filters that recommend all the dishes that exclude particular allergens were particularly valued. Online information was also sought at the eating out establishment. This was facilitated by the venue and their provision of website links or QR codes on the menu. The provision of on-line information at the venue was not favoured by all. Others were more positive, again noting the benefits of the allergen filter option. The use of on-line information in the venue was sometimes integrated with the provision of in-person information. Providing detailed accounts of eating out experiences facilitated by the method was personally beneficial for some participants, enabling them to reflect on their own methods of assessing risk and making decisions. Collaborating in the project design promoted a positive sense of being involved in the project. As well as these extrinsic benefits there was evidence of more intrinsic motivations to take part in the project. The regular project updates that also contained interim findings from the project promoted a sense of ongoing involvement and a sense of making a valued contribution. Citizen scientists also appreciated being able to hear other people's views and eating habits through the workshops and the newsletter updates and these enabled them to reflect on how similar or different those were from their own patterns. |
| Exploitation Route | This research study involved the food hypersensitivity community by not only working with our citizen scientists but also by engaging with our project partners: five charities and organisations which represent different food hypersensitivities (Coeliac UK, Anaphylaxis UK, Allergy UK, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, Allergy Action). We worked with our project partners in terms of design of the data collection tool, recruitment, and reflection on and dissemination of findings. The project has not long finished but we will be providing our collaborators with easy to digest bite-sized summaries of the final results of the project which we believe will be useful to them and the communities of FHS citizens that they serve. We will share with them what we have found out about the importance of the pre-planning stage before eating out and the ways in which allergen information is best provided through venue websites. The outcomes of this funding are potentially very useful to inform website design for eating out venues. We have a clear understanding of what online presentations of allergy information were more or less useful and trusted and what it is that can undermine confidence in information provided about allergens. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Description | This was a small pilot project that has recently finished. Thus far, facilitated by the engagement of citizen scientists with FHS, we have some evidence of the impact that engaging with the project had on some of the citizen scientists themselves - they said that it caused them to reflect on their own allergy management strategies. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Societal |