Co‐designing nutrition interventions with consumers: A scoping review

Abstract

Background: There is little known about nutrition intervention research involving consumer co-design. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and synthesise the existing evidence on the current use and extent of consumer co-design in nutrition interventions. Methods: This scoping review is in line with the methodological framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley and refined by the Joanna Briggs Institute using an adapted 2weekSR approach. We searched Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Cochrane. Only studies that included consumers in the co-design and met the 'Collaborate' or 'Empower' levels of the International Association of Public Participation's Public Participation Spectrum were included. Studies were synthesised according to two main concepts: (1) co-design for (2) nutrition interventions. Results: The initial search yielded 8157 articles, of which 19 studies were included (comprising 29 articles). The studies represented a range of intervention types and participants from seven countries. Sixteen studies were published in the past 5 years. Co-design was most often used for intervention development, and only two studies reported a partnership with consumers across all stages of research. Overall, consumer involvement was not well documented. No preferred co-design framework or approach was reported across the various studies. Conclusions: Consumer co-design for nutrition interventions has become more frequent in recent years, but genuine partnerships with consumers across all stages of nutrition intervention research remain uncommon. There is an opportunity to improve the reporting of consumer involvement in co-design and enable equal partnerships with consumers in nutrition research.

Exploring hospital mealtime experiences of older inpatients, caregivers and staff using photovoice methods

“…The study was conducted in a single site with substantial experience in improving nutrition care, and findings may not be generalisable to other contexts. However, there are no other studies to our knowledge which have used co‐design approaches for mealtime improvement (Meloncelli et al., 2023).…”

“…To date, mealtime interventions have been designed by health professionals with little involvement from or partnership with older patients or caregivers. Involving consumers in health service design and improvement is acknowledged as a fundamental tenet of safe and quality healthcare (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017; Institute of Medicine, 2001), and there is increasing interest in co‐designing nutrition interventions (Meloncelli et al., 2023). Only one group has reported the use of co‐design methodology to improve hospital mealtimes (Macdonald et al., 2010), but health professionals acted as proxy for older inpatients, compromising fidelity to the methodology.…”

Scoping Review of Available Culinary Nutrition Interventions for People with Neurological Conditions

“…However, there were only two stroke programs [20][21][22] that included culturally and linguistically diverse (Spanish-speaking, African American) participants in the United States, showing that more work needs to be carried out in these areas. The importance of consumer engagement and co-design in healthcare interventions has increasingly been recognised in recent years [29]. Consumer engagement and co-design have shown potential in aligning health services with consumer needs, and improving engagement and uptake with healthcare [29].…”

“…The majority of participants were 40 years old and above (n = 8, 89%) [19][20][21][23][24][25]27,28] except for the study involving people with TBI [26]. Almost half of the studies recruited more than 50% male participants (n = 4, 45%) [19][20][21]26,29], while two studies recruited more than 50% females (n = 2, 22%) [22,24] and one study recruited solely female participants with Multiple Sclerosis [23]. Almost half (n = 4, 45%) of the interventions reported the involvement of caregivers [19,25,27,28], while one intervention involved health professionals (neurologist, nurse, dietitian, clinical psychologist, researcher) as stakeholders during the program design phase [25].…”

Are Malnourished Inpatients Treated by Dietitians Active Participants in Their Nutrition Care? Findings of an Exploratory Study of Patient-Reported Measures across Nine Australian Hospitals

“…As noted elsewhere, effective communication matters when it comes to the complex technical term of malnutrition [ 57 ]. Dietetics personnel and the broader healthcare team must work together to engage patients, look across the malnutrition care journey and identify key touchpoints regarding who is best placed to communicate with patients about their nutrition care, and identify the most appropriate communication method [ 48 , 58 ].…”