Translating Co-Design from Face-to-Face to Online: An Australian Primary Producer Project Conducted during COVID-19

Abstract

Primary producers face considerable risks for poor mental health. While this population can be difficult to engage in programs to prevent poor mental health, approaches tailored to reflect the context of primary producers’ life and work have been successful. This paper reports on the co-design phase of a project designed to prevent poor mental health for primary producers—specifically, the advantages, challenges and considerations of translating face-to-face co-design methods to an online environment in response to COVID-19 restrictions. The co-design phase drew upon the existing seven-step co-design framework developed by Trischler and colleagues. Online methods were adopted for all steps of the process. This paper models how this co-design approach can work in an online, primary producer context and details key considerations for future initiatives of this type. The development of online co-design methods is an important additional research method for use not only during a pandemic but also when operating with limited resources or geographic constraints. Results demonstrate the following: (i) co-designing online is possible given adequate preparation, training and resource allocation; (ii) “hard to reach” populations can be engaged using online methods providing there is adequate early-stage relationship building; (iii) co-design quality need not be compromised and may be improved when translating to online; and (iv) saved costs and resources associated with online methods can be realigned towards intervention/service creation, promotion and user engagement. Suggestions for extending Trischler and colleagues’ model are incorporated.

Empowering patients to co‐design Covid‐19 responses: the role of online health communities

“…Due to Covid-19, social distancing and lockdown, researchers have come up with innovative ways to adapt face-to-face co-design methodology to an online environment (Beresford et al, 2021b;Kennedy et al, 2021). Digital platforms, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, have been successfully used for co-design (Brown et al, 2020) and more flexible processes of collaboration have been proposed that respond to the need for low-contact and social distancing as a result of Covid-19 (Davis et al, 2021;Langley et al, 2021).…”

“…Our discussion aims to contribute to the emerging literature in EBCD as an approach in healthcare service design and its application to drive quality improvements during a health crisis. It demonstrates how EBCD can be adapted to an online environment in response to Covid‐19 restrictions (Kennedy et al, 2021). EBCD is based on the principles of co‐production and engages key stakeholders in a systematic, participatory process of reflection and collaboration leading to the co‐design of improvements (Bate and Robert, 2007).…”

Technology-Based Interventions for Cancer Caregivers: Concept Analysis

“…Another aspect of being user-friendly centered on the respect technology-based interventions have for end-user input—some interventions were developed in a co-design fashion, where health promotion strategies were discussed and built by cancer caregivers, health care professionals, and academic scholars collaboratively [ 69 ]. This method is an important participatory approach for intervention development, and it has many advantages, the most noticeable ones centering on the ability of the co-design to yield more optimal anticipated outcomes and less unintended consequences compared with interventions that only involve limited groups of stakeholders [ 116 - 118 ]. Although it is difficult to determine which of these defining attributes is the most appealing to cancer caregivers, it is clear that these characteristics have collectively made technology-based interventions appealing to cancer caregivers.…”

Editorial: How can We Co-Create Solutions in Health Promotion With Users and Stakeholders?

“…These approaches have the potential to allow the production of deeper knowledge of complex health issues by valuing and incorporating the different perspectives and experiences of key actors closely related to the subject of the research ( 1 ). The hallmark of participatory research is the establishment of equitable research partnerships with a diverse group of stakeholders such as public health professionals, health activists, government officials, and citizens ( 2 , 3 ). Participatory or co-creation approaches serve as a guiding principle to ensure stakeholder engagement throughout all the stages of the research and program development phases including developing, refining, and implementing.…”