Co-Designing a Prototype Education and Training Intervention for Healthcare Professionals Working in Community...

Evidence indicates that people with a laryngectomy often perceive community healthcare professionals as less knowledgeable than hospital-based clinicians. Some individuals also report feeling more skilled than the professionals supporting them at home. This highlights a substantial gap in healthcare professional education and training, with significant safety implications for people with a laryngectomy, including reduced confidence in care, mistrust in healthcare professionals, and risks to continuity of care. To address this, the present research describes co-design of a prototype education and training package for community healthcare professionals.

Informed by the principles of Experience Based Co-Design and underpinned by the Medical Research Council's guidance for Complex Intervention Development we ran prioritisation events followed by three iterative workshops with people with a laryngectomy, family members and healthcare professionals to develop the prototype education and training package. A digital expert supported all workshops. A combination of content and thematic analysis was used to analyse workshop data.

Twenty-eight participants took part in the prioritisation events and workshops: eight people with a laryngectomy, five family members and fifteen healthcare professionals. All participants agreed the highest priority need for developing a digital solution to community-based education and training. Preliminary programme theory, logic model and prototype education and training package were collaboratively designed. The education and training prototype includes ten agreed content topics (e.g. anatomy, communication), as well as design and implementation considerations.

Through equal partnership working with key stakeholders, a prototype education and training package has been designed. The next stage is operationalisation, including co-production of content/supporting resources and building of the digital platform, and refinement.

Lived experience was embedded throughout the study, shaping both its direction and delivery. Individuals with lived experience contributed as members of the research steering group, informing the overall study design and ensuring its relevance from the outset. A dedicated patient and public involvement group supported key stages of the project, including the development of the participant recruitment strategy, creation of resources for co-design, and planning of the co‑design workshops. Their insights also informed the analysis of findings and the refinement of the final prototype, ensuring that the intervention remained grounded in the realities, priorities, and expertise of those directly affected. People with a laryngectomy and their families also took part in co-designing the prototype.