Co-design research: what does it mean, and why should we do it?

Research Involvement sits on a continuum from 'non-participation' where people with lived experience are recruited as subjects or participants for a study, to mid-level participation, where people are consulted about the research, but have little influence over the research design or conduct; through to high-level participation, using approaches such as co-design or co-production, which involve genuine research partnerships with people with lived experience in one or more stages of the research process (Bellingham et al. 2023).