Inclusive co-design tools for health-related co-design

1 February 2025

Image top row - creative modelling within the Well Mum co-design project (UCL Incubator grant – PI  A.Moore), discussions within the CICADA codesign workshop (NIHR funded PI C.Rivas) Bottom row - Digesting Science toolkits and translated facilitator training for international delivery (PI A. Thomson).

Key facts

Full title: Developing inclusive co-design tools for health-related co-design in partnership with minority ethnic communities.

Funder: National Institute for Health and Care Research

Total amount awarded: £179,278.00

Start date: 2025

Duration: 2 years

Research Partners: Queen Mary University of London (contracting organisation) – Dr Alison Thomson (joint lead applicant)

CBC researchers: Dr Amanda Moore (joint lead applicant)

Why this research matters

People from minority ethnic groups often face barriers to accessing the healthcare they need. When health research tries to address these challenges, the very people most affected are sometimes left out of the process. This means we don’t always learn why services aren’t working and how they need to change.

Co-design - working together with communities to design services - is increasingly seen as a way forward. But the co-design process can be complex and current co-design methods and tools (such as journey mapping, personas, card sorting and storyboarding) have not been developed specifically to involve people from minority ethnic groups. Differences in language, culture, literacy, trust, and experiences of healthcare can mean that people don’t engage with co-design projects or that tools used don’t work as intended, leaving important voices unheard.
This project tackles that gap by creating practical tools and advice to help researchers and practitioners involve Black African, Caribbean, Bangladeshi, South Asian, and other minority ethnic communities directly in shaping health services that meet their needs.

What the project will do

We are co-designing practical co-design tools to make health research more inclusive and impactful.
The project includes three work packages:

• Work Package 1: Review what is already known, and carry out interviews and a survey with stakeholders to map existing tools and gaps.
• Work Package 2: Co-design new resources through workshops with researchers, community members, and charities.
• Work Package 3: Test these resources in a diabetes service for women with gestational diabetes, aiming to reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Outputs will include:

• A website and toolbox of guidance and relevant resources
• Training materials
• An evidence gap map
• Evaluation frameworks
• A grant application for a diabetes prevention co-design and evaluation project

Working in partnership

The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of designers, clinicians, researchers, charity leaders, and community members.
•    Two charities, Food for Purpose and Social Action for Health, and two public contributors (from Black African and Bangladeshi communities) are part of the core team.
•    A wider group of 33 people with lived experience will shape the research through workshops.
Together, they will ensure the questions asked, and the tools created, are relevant, culturally appropriate, and grounded in lived experience.