Applying co-production principles in research: Reflections from young people and academics

Abstract

Co-production, a form of collaborative working, is guided by principles including valuing all participants, building on individual strengths, blurring distinctions between roles, delivering benefits for all participants, building support networks and supporting people to deliver work themselves. This article explores how co-production is understood by young people and researchers and how co-production principles can be applied within a research context. We identify challenges of implementing existing co-production frameworks in research and key areas to consider for future work.