Constraining co-creation? An ethnographic study of Healthwatch organizations in England

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

While the potential benefits of co-production and co-creation are widely vaunted, the degree to which they precipitate innovative change in systems varies, and influences on their impact demand greater attention.We present an ethnographic study of organizations intended to foster co-creation in English health and social care.Comparing five cases, we find demonstrable activity and some tangible impacts.At the same time, the positioning of these organizations as collaborative insiders in local governance systems constrained the publics and issues that were prioritized in cocreative activities.Our findings highlight the significance of discursive forms of metagovernance in delimiting the scope of co-creation.