Let's Co! The how-to of working within a co-production framework to devise, design and execute collaborative...

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Research
• Collaborative Study Design
• Eating Disorders Research

Background:

• Developing large-scale, clinically focused studies for eating disorders requires robust design.
• The Australian Government funded a National Centre for Research and Translation in Eating Disorders (AEDRTC) to advance research.
• There is a need for documented practical approaches to co-production in large research initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document the co-production process for selecting and designing three major eating disorder studies.
• To highlight the principles, values, phases, and activities guiding collaborative research design.
• To contribute to the literature on co-production in large-scale research teams and studies.

Main Methods:

• A 1-year full co-production process involving lived experience, clinical, and research collaborators.
• Collaborative ideation, selection, and design of three multisite, clinically focused studies, including two clinical trials.
• Establishing governance, structure, intellectual property (IP) clauses, and principles for shared design.

Main Results:

• The manuscript details the key stages of co-production for agenda setting and study design.
• It outlines the establishment of governance, novel IP clauses, and processes for collaborative design.
• Emerging themes and lessons learned, including inherent tensions in co-production, are discussed.

Conclusions:

• The co-production process successfully guided the selection and design of three complex eating disorder research studies.
• Documenting this process provides practical insights for future large-scale collaborative research.
• Understanding co-production dynamics is crucial for effective research translation and agenda setting.