Co-Design Practices in Diet and Nutrition Research: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Co-design, the method of involving users, stakeholders, and practitioners in the process of design, may assist to improve the translation of health evidence into tangible and acceptable intervention prototypes. The primary objective of this review was to identify and describe co-design techniques used in nutrition research. The secondary objective was to identify associations between co-design techniques and intervention effectiveness. An integrative review was performed using the databases Emcare, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar. Eligible studies included those that: (1) utilised participatory research or co-design techniques, (2) described development and/or evaluation of interventions aimed at improving dietary behaviours or nutrition, and (3) targeted community-dwelling adults aged ≥18 years. We identified 2587 studies in the initial search and included 22 eligible studies. There were 15 studies that utilised co-design techniques, with a strong focus on engagement of multiple stakeholder types and use of participatory research techniques. No study implemented a complete co-design process. Most studies (14/15) reporting outcomes reported positive health (maximum p < 0.001) or health behaviour outcomes attributed to the intervention; hence, associations between co-design techniques and effectiveness could not be determined. Currently published intervention studies have used participatory research approaches rather than co-design methods. Future research is required to explore the effectiveness of co-design nutrition interventions.

Nutrition Education Programs for Adults with Neurological Diseases Are Lacking: A Scoping Review

“…There was no evidence of codesign in any of the nutrition education programs. Participatory research [20] was evident in two studies, and was used to inform the program topics: one program for people with multiple sclerosis used the findings from a survey [38]; and the program for people with Parkinson's disease used focus groups [43].…”

“…Nutrition education programs have been shown to improve nutrition-related knowledge and behaviors in the general population [18], and programs that are tailored to an individual's dietary needs appear to be more promising at improving diet quality than non-tailored programs [19]. Best practice principles for nutrition education programs fall within five domains: (1) program design (including content areas, evidence based, goal setting, appropriate for audience including increasing recognition for co-designed programs [20], and theoretical basis); (2) program delivery (including experiential activities and fidelity); (3) educator characteristics (including expertise in content and teaching methods); (4) educator training (including initial and ongoing training); and ( 5) evaluation (including formative, process, and outcome evaluations, and sustained behavior change) [21].…”

Co‐designing nutrition interventions with consumers: A scoping review

“…However, unclear reporting of participatory research methodology is an issue evident in prior research. 39,66,67 T A B L E 3 Although there are no reporting guidelines for co-design, the GRIPP2 guidelines 37 provide guidance on reporting patient and public involvement in research. These guidelines were cited in only one of the included papers in this review.…”

“…39 More commonly, included studies were used to assess background knowledge and user needs to inform an intervention, whereas we excluded studies that appeared to 'consult' participants or explore general barriers/enablers and perceptions. 39 To be considered for this scoping review, we applied strict criteria of consumer participation that required researchers to 'Collaborate' with or 'Empower' consumers in line with the IAP2 spectrum. 15 In addition, we note that many of the studies included in this scoping review were published in 2021, which would have meant they were unavailable during screening for the 2021 integrative review.…”

“…A recent integrative review of co-design practices in diet and nutrition research sought to describe the use and effectiveness of techniques that involve consumers in nutrition research across the engagement spectrum. 16 Only three of the included studies [17][18][19] reached 'collegiate' levels of participation, defined as 'researchers and local people work(ing) together as colleagues with different skills to offer, in the process of mutual learning where local people have control over the process'. 16 Furthermore, key co-design studies were not included in the review, [20][21][22][23][24] and due to the rapid increase in co-design studies, even in the past 2 years, we have identified several recent studies that considerably add to the literature involving co-design for nutrition interventions.…”