The challenge of sustainability
One of the biggest challenges when implementing innovations from applied health and social care research into practice is ensuring that their use is sustained in the longer term, especially when supportive activity around their initial implementation will fall away. Co-production – working collaboratively with patients, public members, and professionals – can play a significant role in the lasting impact of these innovations. However, a recent scoping review, funded by ARC East Midlands, found limited information in the literature about how, when, and why co-production is effective.
Research insights
The research explored four innovations that have been sustained in practice. Key individuals from the project teams, including current and former co-producers, were interviewed to discuss the co-production activities used in their projects and how these activities contributed to the long-term sustainability of the innovations.
The findings indicated that the co-production efforts supporting these innovations were broader in scope, often informal, and much more varied than what is typically reported in the literature. This infographic presents several examples of effective co-production activities associated with sustainability, along with suggestions for fostering good co-production practices across the innovation spectrum.