Introducing the Practice Dive Approach: an extension of co-creation in physical activity promotion and health promotion

Abstract

Summary Recently, there has been increasing interest in co-creation utilized for physical activity (PA) promotion and health promotion. Co-creation involves researchers and non-academic stakeholders conjointly developing and implementing interventions. In addition to the frequently reported benefits of co-creation, critical voices highlight the associated challenges (e.g. different interests that inhibit interaction). So far, research has not identified concrete solutions to these challenges and the limitations of co-creation. This article aims to introduce the Practice Dive Approach as a potential way to strengthen cooperation between researchers and non-academic stakeholders. We build on real-life experiences from a German research project, in which researchers moved into practice to familiarize themselves with the settings and end-users. After conducting a literature search on related concepts in PA/health promotion, we developed a comprehensive approach to fostering multi-sectoral cooperation. The introduced Practice Dive Approach assumes that a significant contribution to better cooperation among co-creators is the temporal immersion of researchers in their setting of interest, which has the potential to improve the success of co-creation in the PA/health promotion field. A four-level typology characterizes the intensity of researcher interactions with the setting and the non-academic stakeholders. Potential beneficial effects for both researchers and non-academic stakeholders can be hypothesized (e.g. familiarity with the setting structures and increased understanding of the end-users), while simultaneously, some challenges need to be considered. Future research should aim to validate the concept and its postulated effects.

Gesundheitsförderung im Reallabor?

“…B. ein Ziel der Vorbereitungsphase seitens der Wissenschaftler*innen, die Settings genauer kennenzulernen. Zu diesem Zweck erfolgten neben den initialen Treffen mit den Akteur*innen vor Ort weitere Begehungen und Hospitationen [51]. Darüber 1 Generell sind die Aufgabe der Skalierung im Rahmen der Anwendung des transdisziplinären Forschungsansatzes und die mit der Kontextualisierung einhergehenden Probleme bekannt.…”

Using intervention mapping to develop evidence-based toolkits that provide mental wellbeing support to workers and their managers whilst on long-term sick leave and following return-to-work

“…Two members of the research team (FM, VVM) with expertise in health and wellbeing and occupational psychology liaised with the planning team. The relationship between the planning group and the research team (PGRT) can be de ned by the principles of the Practice Dive Approach [29]. This is when "the academic co-creators familiarise themselves with the research setting and the end-user's needs to support the subsequent process of collaboration".…”

Using intervention mapping to develop evidence-based toolkits that support workers on long-term sick leave and their managers

“…Two members of the research team (FM, VVM) with expertise in health and wellbeing and occupational psychology liaised with the planning team. The relationship between the planning group and the research team (PGRT) can be defined by the principles of the Practice Dive Approach [ 29 ]. This is when “the academic co-creators familiarise themselves with the research setting and the end-user’s needs to support the subsequent process of collaboration”.…”