Co-creating a better research environment for co-design: what Australian health researchers say needs to change

Health research institutions are increasingly showing interest in co-design to engage communities in developing innovative solutions and services. Unfortunately, many researchers, especially those addressing healthcare challenges, lack co-design skills. This study aimed to explore barriers and enablers in a subset of Australian health researchers with knowledge of co-design. This exploration aimed to identify changes that may help health researchers and research organizations in Australia engage in co-design. We used mixed methods, including an online survey and a POLIS conversation. Survey results from 154 health researcher respondents reported a medium to high level of knowledge and understanding of co-design steps across the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) research domains, with at least 55% rating good to expert level of knowledge across each domain. However, respondents reported a low level of practical experience in engaging with consumer and community at each step of the research pipeline. The main barriers to co-design research were a lack of resources, insufficient funding, time and effort constraints, organizational and policy issues, and challenges in recruiting community members. Additionally, 85 researchers participated in a POLIS conversation, which identified three main proposals to address co-design research hurdles: increasing funding for projects, improving organizational systems, and building researchers’ capacity for co-design research activities. We provide recommendations for research organizations, funding bodies, and individual researchers to help make the research environment more amenable to delivering co-designed projects.