Understanding how people want their mental health data used in AI research

Daniel’s project looks at how artificial intelligence (AI) and health data can be used to improve mental healthcare in ways that respect people’s privacy, choices, and dignity.  At the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH), researchers are exploring whether electronic health records could be included in the Brain Health Data Bank to support future AI research.  Because these records contain sensitive mental health information, it is important to understand what people with lived experience of mental health services think about sharing their data, what concerns they have, and what kind of consent process would feel clear, respectful, trustworthy, and compassionate.  The study will work with people with lived experience to develop and pilot a survey about data-sharing preferences.  The results will help guide policies at CAMH and support a future Canada-wide study on consent for using mental health data in brain health data banks.