Ready, set, co(produce): a co-operative inquiry into co-producing research to explore adolescent health and wellbeing in the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder project

Co-production of research with communities and stakeholders is recognised as best practice, but despite this, transparent reporting and reflective accounts on co-producing research is lacking. Born in Bradford Age of Wonder (AoW) is a large longitudinal health research project, following the health trajectories of up to 30,000 young people across the Bradford district; moreover, AoW has been entirely co-produced with teachers, parents, and young people. This paper describes the co-production of the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder (AoW) project and shares general reflections on co-production from peer researchers involved in co-producing AoW. A co-operative inquiry (CI) approach was used to gather written reflections on co-production from ten peer researchers (one teacher, one parent, eight young people) involved in co-producing the AoW project. Written reflections were collected and rough “themes” were identified using thematic analysis. Four key ‘themes’ were identified: (1) promoting young people’s voice and views (2) identifying impacts of co-production, (3) fostering a collaborative ethos, and (4) suggested improvements to the co-production work in AoW. Peer researchers’ reflections highlighted how co-production can positively impact research projects such as AoW, whilst also holding broader benefits including giving young people a voice, facilitating their personal development, and fostering a collaborative ethos both within AoW and with partner organisations. Suggested improvements to AoW co-production included supporting greater numbers of young people and researchers to engage in co-production, organising more regular sessions, and establishing clearer communication channels. Peer researchers’ reflections highlight positive impacts of engaging in co-production, both for research projects (including AoW) and for peer researchers’ personal and professional development. That said, continued efforts are needed in AoW to meet young people’s needs and interests, maintain trusting relationships, and foster sustained growth of co-production efforts within and beyond the AoW project. Evaluation of AoW co-production, along with wider partnership building are key to these efforts. Born in Bradford (BiB) is a large health research programme, working to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bradford and beyond. BiB Age of Wonder (AoW) is the next stage of the BiB programme and is collecting data on up to 30,000 teenagers across the Bradford district. A key part of BiB research (and AoW) involves working with community members as equal partners, through a process called co-production. Co-production is often seen as the best way to do health research; however, not all researchers agree on important questions such as what co-production really is, or why or how it is done. To answer these questions, we need to better understand the perspectives and experiences of those involved in co-production. This study gathered written reflections on co-production from young people, teachers and parents (described as peer researchers) involved in co-producing AoW. The study looked to capture peer researchers’ experiences of doing co-production in general, what possible impact it has, and how co-production in AoW can be improved moving forward. Findings indicated that taking part in co-production can help peer researchers directly impact projects (including AoW), gain useful skills, and encourage collaboration within and beyond AoW. Suggested improvements to AoW co-production included having more regular sessions and having clearer communication with peer researchers. Whilst these findings indicate that AoW co-production is generally working well, an important next step is to evaluate the AoW co-production work and highlight key successes and challenges.