Co-production: what it is and how it can ensure inclusive practice for service users and staff
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Co-production: what it is and how it can ensure inclusive practice for service users and staff

Laura Michelle Makey Senior lecturer, College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, England
Claire Louise Walsh Head of academic development and inclusivity, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, England
Ifrah Salih Senior lecturer in academic development and inclusivity, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To identify that co-production is developing in health and social care services, research and higher education

  • To be aware of the benefits and challenges of co-production

  • To recognise that with careful design, co-production can become an essential part of leading and managing groups of people and organisations

Co-production is a process adopted in health, social care, research, policy development and higher education that aims to bring together the skills and experiences of service users and professionals. It has a range of advantages, such as enabling users of a service to have a voice and to equalise power among service users, professionals and leaders. Co-production is continually developing and is often referred to in contemporary health and social care policy. When designed well, co-production can create a variety of advantages for service users, professionals and the wider community.

This article demonstrates that co-production can be an effective framework to improve experiences for service users and healthcare staff. It is an empowering process that can happen in varying degrees and can be a key part of nurse managers’ practice. The article explores how co-production can be successfully used in a range of healthcare and higher education environments. Ideas about how nurse managers can use co-production to address diversity and inclusion in services are explored.

Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2022.e2046

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

l.makey@shu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Makey LM, Walsh CL, Salih I (2022) Co-production: what it is and how it can ensure inclusive practice for service users and staff. Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2022.e2046

Published online: 12 July 2022

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