Co-creating Virtual Reality Interventions for Alcohol Prevention: Living Lab vs. Co-design

Abstract

Addressing the need for collaborative involvement in health intervention design requires application of processes that researchers and practitioners can apply confidently to actively involve end-users and wider stakeholder groups. Co-creation enables participation by focusing on empowering a range of stakeholders with opportunities to influence the final intervention design. While collaboration with users and stakeholders during intervention design processes are considered vital, clear articulation of procedures and considerations for various co-creation methodologies warrants further research attention. This paper is based on two case studies conducted in Australia and Denmark where researchers co-created virtual reality interventions in an alcohol prevention context. This paper explored and reflected on two co-creation methods–co-design and the Living Lab—and showcased the different processes and procedures of each approach. The study demonstrates that both approaches have merit, yet highlights tensions in distinguishing between the application of each of the respective steps undertaken in each of the processes. While a lot of similarities exist between approaches, differences are evident. Overall, it can be said that the Living Lab is broader in scope and processes applied within the Living Labs approach are more abstract. The co-design process that we applied in the first case study is described more granularly delivering a clear a step-by-step guide that practitioners can implement to co-design solutions that end-users value and that stakeholders support. An agenda to guide future research is outlined challenging researchers to identify the most effective co-creation approach.

Promoting Navigation Health Literacy at the Intersection of Schools and Communities. Development of the Game-Based Intervention Nebolus

“…To allow that health literacy interventions are tailored to the needs of the target group, a co-creation design method was used. Despite different terms and understandings, co-creation refers to a process that systematically involves those for whom a health intervention is to be developed ( 58 ). Co-creation has its roots in participatory intervention design, that goes beyond lower levels of participation (often called as tokenism) such as information provision or singular consultation ( 59 ).…”

“…Living Labs can be organized in three phases of innovation development: (a) understanding the current state and identifying needs of potential users (Exploitation), (b) developing a prototype (e.g., a minimal viable product) including feedback loops (Experimentation), and (c) evaluating the potential impact and added-value of the innovation (Evaluation). Living Labs have been established in different fields of public health such as alcohol prevention ( 58 ) or primary health care ( 60 , 61 ). In their recent integrative review, Kim et al ( 62 ) could identify 15 studies reporting their LL experiences.…”

Is Virtual Reality Cue Exposure a Promising Adjunctive Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder?

“…Two other interesting research directions seem to be the so-called co-creation [82], i.e., a collaborative involvement in the final intervention design of end-users and broader stakeholder groups, and augmented reality (AR), a rapidly emerging technology that has the potential to take VR studies to the next level and pave the way to future research on this novel and efficacious treatment option for mental health disorders. Superimposing virtual objects onto real-world backgrounds via diverse types of displays, including smartphones, tablets, or headsets in real-time, AR demonstrates a potential especially to be used for extinction-based therapies (administered also in substance use disorders), taking them beyond the clinic [83].…”

Designing energy solutions: a comparison of two participatory design approaches for service innovation

“…Consequently, evaluating the performance and utility of different participatory design approaches is needed to establish reliable mechanisms of value co-creation (Yang and Sung, 2016). For example, Dietrich et al. (2021) recently compared two forms of participatory design: co-design and Living Lab .…”