Development and Evaluation of a Framework for Authentic Online Co-Design: Partnership-Focussed Principles-Driven...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
• Digital Health

Background:

• Co-design in health research traditionally occurs in-person, but online delivery is increasingly warranted.
• There is a lack of evidence-informed approaches for facilitating co-design in online environments.
• Assumptions that in-person co-design principles automatically translate to online settings are not sufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a framework for authentically adapting health research co-design into an online environment.
• To address the current gap in evidence-based methods for online co-design facilitation.
• To ensure patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is effectively maintained in digital co-design.

Main Methods:

• Developed an initial framework through literature review and synthesis of in-person co-design principles.
• Applied the framework to an online co-design project with diverse PPIE groups (n=10).
• Evaluated participant experiences using mixed methods: surveys and semi-structured interviews, analyzed with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• The Partnership-focussed Principles-driven Online co-Design (P-POD) framework was developed and refined.
• Online co-design workshops (n=8) using P-POD were found to be satisfying and engaging.
• Interview data revealed a respectful online culture, valuing diverse perspectives, shared power, and multiple definitions of success.

Conclusions:

• The refined P-POD framework demonstrates adherence to co-design principles and positive participant experiences.
• The P-POD framework is a viable tool for future online intervention or service design projects.
• Future research should continue to evaluate and refine online co-design methodologies.