Co-Produce, Co-Design, Co-Create, or Co-Construct-Who Does It and How Is It Done in Chronic Disease Prevention? A Scoping Review

Co-production in health literature has increased in recent years. Despite mounting interest, numerous terms are used to describe co-production. There is confusion regarding its use in health promotion and little evidence and guidance for using co-produced chronic disease prevention interventions in the general population. We conducted a scoping review to examine the research literature using co-production to develop and evaluate chronic disease prevention programs. We searched four electronic databases for articles using co-production for health behaviour change in smoking, physical activity, diet, and/or weight management. In 71 articles that reported using co-production, co-design, co-create, co-develop, and co-construct, these terms were used interchangeably to refer to a participatory process involving researchers, stakeholders, and end users of interventions. Overall, studies used co-production as a formative research process, including focus groups and interviews. Co-produced health promotion interventions were generally not well described or robustly evaluated, and the literature did not show whether co-produced interventions achieved better outcomes than those that were not. Uniform agreement on the meanings of these words would avoid confusion about their use, facilitating the development of a co-production framework for health promotion interventions. Doing so would allow practitioners and researchers to develop a shared understanding of the co-production process and how best to evaluate co-produced interventions.

Automated summary

Co-production in health literature has become more popular in recent years, but there is still confusion regarding its definition. There is limited evidence and guidance for using co-production in chronic disease prevention interventions. This scoping review aimed to examine the research literature on co-production in developing and evaluating chronic disease prevention programs. The findings suggest that different terms are used interchangeably to refer to a participatory process involving researchers, stakeholders, and end users. The studies also highlight that co-produced health promotion interventions are not well described or robustly evaluated.