Meaningful engagement of lived experience in diabetes research and health service improvement: A rapid review of barriers to and enablers for community involvement among adults with type 2 diabetes

Background Consumer and community involvement (CCI) is increasingly recognised as critical to advancing equity, relevance and impact in diabetes research and health service improvement. However, the meaningful and representative involvement of people with diabetes, particularly those with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and from diverse communities, remains limited. Aim and Method This article provides an overview of the emerging CCI literature in the context of diabetes, including a rapid review identifying barriers to and enablers of CCI in research and health services for people with T2D. Results Key barriers included negative past experiences of CCI, lack of tailored CCI approaches and experiences of diabetes stigma. Enablers of involving those with T2D include building professional–community partnerships and facilitating genuine contribution and collaboration through safe and inclusive environments, valuing community expertise and co‐sharing of power and ownership of projects. While such strategies were drawn from studies involving culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse populations, the literature is largely limited to high‐income countries. Practical and conceptual directions to advance CCI in diabetes research and health services are considered, including the need for co‐design of context‐ and community‐specific approaches of CCI, routine evaluation of (community‐relevant) impacts of CCI and resourcing facilitators and systems to engage meaningfully in CCI. Conclusion These findings suggest key considerations to support more inclusive, representative and impactful involvement of people with diabetes and identify the need for further research to tailor CCI strategies to the diverse communities they aim to serve.