Executive summary
This guide provides practical support for co-production, including planning user engagement and involving users in the production of health information. Put simply, co-production means working together with users to develop health information.
Why this matters
Patients have a different perspective to those working in healthcare. Co-production and involving users in the production of your health information will ensure it is relevant, easy to understand and accessible. Involving users in development can help ensure the insight you gather is fully reflected in the final product.
Co-producing
- At the outset, define how users will be involved and how involved they will be in decision-making.
- User testing is an iterative process – after initial testing, test again at a stage where you can still make changes.
- Invite feedback once projects are live to ensure a continuous cycle of improvement.
Planning engagement
- Plan how users will be involved throughout your project.
- Tell users what their roles and responsibilities will be and what financial support you can offer.
- Consider the types of users you are recruiting. How many do you need, are they from your target audience, do they reflect a broad range of users?
Methods for involving users
- Use a range of different techniques, for example online surveys and focus groups, at different stages of production.
- Whichever method you use, make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve from each engagement.
- Always give feedback to users and thank them for their involvement.
This guide supports the PIF TICK assessment process for criteria:
- 3.0 Identifying need – Resources are produced to meet a genuine need
- 5.0 Involving users – Users have been involved in the development of information resources
- 6.0 Content – Resources are written to meet the health literacy needs of the target audience and use appropriate language and tone
- 7.0 Layout and design – Resources are easy to access and navigate
