The Italian debate on the digital COVID certificate: co-producing epistemic and normative rationalities

Italy's digital Covid certificate, known nationally as the ‘Green Pass,' was enforced through unusual restrictions for a liberal democracy, as part of the government's effort to bolster the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Since July 2021, the Green Pass provided the main authorizing tool for the public to access a wide spectrum of social spaces and activities, from leisure to public transport and from education to workplaces. The Green Pass therefore served as a normative technology, and triggered intense political controversy and heated debates in the Italian public discourse. In constructing claims about the Green Pass, advocates and critics alike co-produced normative arguments with understandings of scientific evidence. Notably, they articulated competing framings around: conceptions of freedom during a pandemic;what should be considered as ‘evidence that matters' regarding the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines;value-laden projections of vaccination as either a solidaristic practice or an act of self-protection;the proper relationship between the state and its citizens;and the most appropriate modes of public health intervention. Accordingly, Italy's Green Pass offers a revealing case study for probing the implications of a normative technology with respect to public health effectiveness and the safeguarding of individual and social rights. It also provides an opportunity for scrutinizing the (re-)structuring of scientific and public health governance in a major Western democracy during a public health crisis. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Participatory video from a distance: co-producing knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic using smartphones.

In this paper, I outline an innovative remote participatory video (PV) methodology that makes use of participants' smartphones. It was developed as an alternative to co-production research and can be employed when face-to-face contact is impossible or undesirable. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face research interactions have been disrupted or become impossible. Yet it is vital to reach those who are most affected by emergencies and to include their voices. The research reported here was a collaboration between women in Medellín, Colombia, and a team of filmmakers and researchers. We developed an innovative remote PV methodology using participants' smartphones, researching how women from poorer neighbourhoods were affected by the pandemic in their everyday lives. Here, I reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the remote PV methodology, arguing that it offers new avenues for participants to take control of the filming and editing process, and builds technical skills and capacities that have value beyond the timeframe of the project. I conclude that the remote PV method has great potential as a stand-alone method, moving the landscape of co-production research away from a requirement for geographical co-presence and potentially shifting power and ownership towards local co-researchers and participants.

Effectiveness of digital technologies to engage and support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes: A scoping review.

Use of digital technologies to support meaningful engagement of people with dementia and carers increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine the effectiveness of digital technologies in supporting the engagement and wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes. Studies published in peer reviewed literature were identified across four databases (CINAHL, Medline, PUBMED, PsychINFO). Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicate that digital technologies can potentially support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers, although only a few studies had measured impact on wellbeing, as many were reporting on technology at proof-of-concept stage rather than commercially ready products. Moreover, current studies lacked meaningful involvement of people with dementia, family carers, and care professionals in the design of the technology. Future research should bring together people with dementia, family carers, care professionals and designers to coproduce digital technologies with researchers and evaluate them using robust methodologies. Codesign should start early in the intervention development phase and continue until implementation. There is a need for real world applications that nurture social relationships by focusing on how digital technologies can support more personalised, adaptive forms of care. Developing the evidence base to identify what makes digital technologies effective in supporting the wellbeing of people with dementia is crucial. Future interventions should therefore consider the needs and preferences of people with dementia, their families, and professional carers, as well as the suitability and sensitivity of wellbeing outcome measures.

Lessons of Hope and Resilience: A Co-Produced Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Youth Living with Psychosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria.

Much of the emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on people with psychosocial disabilities comes from high-income countries. This study sought to explore the perceptions and experiences of youths living with psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Using a co-produced research process, a facility-based study was conducted among youth with confirmed diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Data was transcribed, double-coded and analysed with Atlas.ti using a thematic analysis approach. We found that participants were aware of good evidence-based information on the nature of the disease and the pandemic. Many of them described worsening mental health and disruptions to daily routines. Opportunities for deepening family relationships, skill building, helping others, and extended time for previously neglected self-development activities were described. This study benefitted from co-production with persons with lived experience, which could be harnessed for future research on psychosis.

Coproducing Support Together: Sustainable and Reciprocal Civic Disaster Relief during COVID-19

COVID-19 changed society in terms of employment, food security, and mental health, affecting all segments of the population. Surging demands for a wide range of support could not be met solely by government-led disaster assistance that experienced breakdowns in the initial phase of the pandemic. The nature of the pandemic as a global, long-haul disaster necessitated sustained, diverse, and extensive civic disaster relief to complement government response. In this paper, we explore how civic disaster relief groups carry out online and offline coordination activities to engage different actors and their positive effects on individuals and local communities, drawing on interviews with civic disaster relief organizers and volunteers in the United States. We interpret our findings with the lens of coproduction that can increase the sustainability, diversity, and extent of civic relief efforts. We then suggest design implications for coproducing disaster relief and discuss the importance and benefits of involving stakeholders who are less likely to be engaged in producing relief. © 2023 ACM.

Make-in-India: Moving from a Monocentric to a Polycentric Response to the COVID-19 Crisis!

The paper will look at the initial and subsequent Indian government's response to the COVID-19 focusing event. The strategy used to tackle the initial Covid-19 wave in India was copied from resource-rich countries and authoritarian countries and due to centralization bias in India's institutions, a monocentric response to the crisis was the default instead of cooperative solutions. However, the response to the pandemic should have been by multiple decision centers and based on local and institutional knowledge, considering India's institutions, culture, and state capacity, for a "Make-in-India"polycentric response. Solving large-scale health externalities requires coproduction to deal with nested externalities more effectively instead of monocentric global responses. I propose policy considering previous epidemic responses focusing on polycentric governance where civil society is incentivized. © 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2023.

Decolonising Safeguarding During a Pandemic: Lessons for Research Praxis in International Social Work

Protecting people from harm and upholding their right to be protected is a central tenet of social work. ‘Safeguarding' as a term is, however, a relatively new introduction to the language of international research practice for protecting people. Practices of judging and categorising risk, harm, and vulnerability are nevertheless not new territory for either social work or research. Inherently imbued with power and ‘othering' practices, the problematic aspects of these categorisations, especially in Global North-South relations, are in fact long established (Munck and Kleibl, 2019). They sort and classify people as those who pose a ‘risk' or challenge to certain social norms, and those who are deemed to be ‘at risk, ' ‘vulnerable, ' or in need of protection. In this way, risk as a concept and ‘risk-work' as practice can be understood to be a colonial project. Systemic and institutionalised, or ‘baked in, ' to both research institutions as well as research and welfare practices. Researching social work, especially at this time of global pandemic, therefore has the potential to reify these colonial logics. Drawing on the growing literature on the impacts of COVID-19 on development challenges, and work undertaken by YOLRED to assess safeguarding issues for working with at-risk or marginalised groups, including former child soldiers, this chapter explores the conceptual, linguistic, and practical challenges of ‘safeguarding' for praxis. Further, it will illustrate, from the authors' ongoing works within this area, lessons learned and key takeaways for how the concept of safeguarding can be reimagined as a potential framework for decolonising research. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Children and young peoples' lyrics and voices capturing their experiences within youth justice services

Purpose: This paper aims to explore young peoples' authentic experiences of youth justice services (YJS) during the Covid-19 pandemic. By adopting the creative arts-based method of lyric writing, the research team sought to empower participants through collaboration and participation and to facilitate them leading the narrative (Deakin et al., 2020). Design/methodology/approach: This research adopted a creative arts-based method in which participants worked alongside an artist to generate lyrics that captured their experiences within YJS. Such an approach demonstrated a commitment to participatory, child-first approaches. Findings: Two main themes were identified: identity and relationships. The young people vocalised resistance to frequent labelling and their ambitions to move away from past criminal identity and behaviour. Relationships with practitioners could be a source of frustration within this but were also highlighted as valuable and supportive. Research limitations/implications: As data collection was remote, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, the opportunity to develop relationships with young people within the YJS prior to conducting the research was restricted. This approach may have also impacted recruitment of participants. The sessions presented short-term interventions and whilst follow-up sessions were offered, many did not take them up. Although the research sample is small and cannot be considered representative, it allows for a valuable insight into the experiences of young people at a particularly challenging time. Practical implications: Upon receiving our findings and recommendations, the first YJS research site has sought to further embed a relationship-based practice model and greater creative/participatory socially prescribed psychosocial therapeutic interventions, including music groups and spoken word artists to work with children and young people. Originality value: This research adds to the growing literature base surrounding creative arts-based research with children and young people for their value towards communication, pro-social identity and development. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID and Social Work Voices from India and Australia: Strategic and Meaningful Solidarities for Global Justice

The social work experiences of COVID are differentially experienced within and between countries. This chapter is a co-production that draws on narratives by social work academics and social work practitioners in India and Australia, which highlight inequities. From the voices of co-producers, four thematic areas that arose are discussed: People and the State: Migrants, Refugees, and Citizens;Women, Mobility, and Violence;Digital Divide: Access to Communities and Social Work Practice;and Role of Social Workers: Relief and Systemic Interventions. The rich narratives highlight the expertise of social workers as complementary to the dominant reliance on health professional interventions. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Communication for Coproduction: The Informational Role of Nonprofit Organizations

Governments and citizens need to coproduce a better response to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the unavailability and inaccessibility of essential information, the information asymmetry between governments and citizens, the misinformation, and the information overload all influence coproduction adversely. NPOs worldwide are making useful information available and accessible to governments and citizens, serving as information intermediaries to reduce the degree of information asymmetry, increasing information credibility to lighten the information overload, and clarifying misinformation. All these informational roles of NPOs are valuable to governments and citizens for fighting against the coronavirus and coproducing better health outcomes.

Co-producing rapid research: Strengths and challenges from a lived experience perspective.

The Lived Experience Researchers (LERs) of the Mental Health Policy Research Unit (MHPRU) reflect on the experience of conducting rapid co-produced research, particularly during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this perspective article, we introduce requirements for co-production applying the 4Pi Framework, reflect on specific characteristics of co-production in rapid research, discuss strengths and challenges for involvement of LERs in rapid research, and lastly provide recommendations to achieve meaningful involvement. Incorporating meaningful co-production is an augmentation to any research project, with several benefits to the research, to the team, and to individual researchers. Particularly in the case of rapid research, that aims for efficient translation of knowledge into practice, involvement of experts by experience will be key. The work conducted by the MHPRU LERs presented in this paper demonstrates the viability, value, and potential of this way of working.

Methods for living guidelines: early guidance based on practical experience. Paper 2: consumer engagement in living guidelines.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and reflect on the consumer engagement approaches used in five living guidelines from the perspectives of consumers (i.e., patients, carers, the public, and their representatives) and guideline developers. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: In a descriptive report, we used a template to capture engagement approaches and the experiences of consumers and guideline developers in living guidelines in Australia and the United Kingdom. Responses were summarized using descriptive synthesis. RESULTS: One guideline used a Consumer Panel, three included two to three consumers in the guideline development group, and one did both. Much of our experience was common to all guidelines (e.g., consumers felt welcomed but that their role initially lacked clarity). We identified six challenges and opportunities specific to living guidelines: managing the flow of work; managing engagement in online environments; managing membership of the panel; facilitating more flexibility, variety and depth in engagement; recruiting for specific skills-although these can be built over time; developing living processes to improve; and adapting consumer engagement together. CONCLUSION: Consumer engagement in living guidelines should follow established principles of consumer engagement in guidelines. Conceiving the engagement as living, underpinned by a living process evaluation, allows the approach to be developed with consumers over time.

Stakeholder-engaged co-design and implementation of web-based tools to enhance the dissemination and implementation of AHRQ EPC reports.

Introduction: A mission-critical aspect of learning health systems (LHSs) is the provision of evidence-based practice. One source of such evidence is provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through rigorous systematic reviews, termed evidence reports that synthesize available evidence on nominated topics of interest. However, the AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) program recognizes that the production of high-quality evidence reviews does not guarantee or promote their use and usability in practice. Methods: To make these reports more relevant to LHSs and promote evidence dissemination, AHRQ awarded a contract to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and its Kaiser Permanente ACTION (KPNW ACTION) partner to design and implement web-based tools to meet the gap in dissemination and implementation of EPC reports in LHSs. We used a co-production approach to accomplish this work across three phases of activity: planning, co-design, and implementation between 2018 and 2021. We describe the methods and results and discuss implications for future efforts. Results: Web-based information tools that provide clinically relevant summaries with clear visual representations from the AHRQ EPC systematic evidence reports may be used by LHSs to increase awareness and accessibility of EPC reports, formalize and enhance LHSs' evidence review infrastructure, develop system-specific protocols and care pathways, improve practice at the point of care, and train and educate. Conclusions: The co-design of these tools and facilitated implementation generated an approach to making EPC reports more accessible and allows for more widespread application of systematic review results in supporting evidence-based practices in LHSs.

Coproduction and satisfaction with online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from European countries

This paper investigates the effect of parents' coproduction in online schooling on satisfaction with educational services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using European cross country microdata from the 2020 Eurofound survey, we reveal that parents' involvement in home schooling is strongly correlated with their satisfaction with educational services. Our results contribute to the on-going debate regarding the importance of citizens' involvement in service delivery during the pandemic, and, in particular, on the related effects in terms of subjective satisfaction.

More than participatory? From ‘compensatory' towards ‘expressive' remote practices using digital technologies

Based on the shift from face-to-face participatory action research (PAR) with groups in situations of vulnerability to digital methods during COVID-19, we reflect on how we can go beyond compensating for the physical absence of the researcher from the field. We argue that instead of simply aiming to replace face-to-face research with a digital equivalent for maintaining ‘participatory' and ‘inclusive' research practices, remote practices have the potential of being more-than compensatory. We suggest that when producing multi-method digital approaches, we need to go beyond a concern with participant access to remote practices. By rethinking remote PAR in the light of expressive rather than participatory research practices, we critically reflect on the (sometimes experimental) process of trying out different digital research method(s) with Brazilian youth in situations of digital marginalisation, including the initial ‘failures' and lessons learned in encouraging diverse forms of participant expression, and ownership using WhatsApp. © The Author(s) 2023.

ICT-Facilitated Coproduction during COVID-19: Intelligence Innovation of Community Governance in Guangzhouĝ

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, ICT-based technology application platforms have played a prominent role in promoting cooperative governance of community epidemic prevention, realizing cooperative supply of public services, and promoting resident participation. Starting from the definition, background and prospect of cooperative production, the study explores how public services can effectively promote collaborative governance through ICTs, combined with the popularization of ICT platforms and applications to promote citizens' ability to access information, participate in public affairs and participate in the development of ways. The practice of community cooperative governance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guangzhou demonstrated how the city can ensure the development of community public management and services while coordinating the prevention and control of COVID-19 based on ICT-related information systems and technology platforms. Based on the application of ICT, the ability of citizens to participate in community public governance has been improved, and the mode of public service supply has been changed, and the pressure on community governance has been reduced through scientific and technological governance tools, so as to promote the cooperative production and participation of public governance to achieve the sharing of results and responsibilities, providing a new way for public governance in the future intelligent society. © 2022 ACM.

Creating Time for LGBT+ Disabled Youth: Co-production Outside Chrononormativity

This article explores how ‘chrononormative' constructions of time shape research and offers an approach to co-production and research involvement that draws on insights from trans, queer, and disability studies. The article presents early reflections on an NIHR School for Social Care–funded research study, approved prior to but developed under the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, investigating personal support, sexuality, and gender in young disabled adults' lives. This project has been supported by a Participatory Advisory Group (PAG) of LGBT+ young disabled adults and we reflect on how engagement with the PAG has shaped our understanding of debates around time and involvement in co-production discourse. Our engagement with trans, queer, and disability theory allows us to think about the constraints on time that such involvement has pushed against as we have sought to account for the diverse needs of the body-minds of the PAG in pandemic times. We suggest that this may speak to opening up the diversity and accessibility of co-production across other research contexts and intend this piece to encourage these conversations. The article thus offers a critical exploration of themes of time, embodiment, and identity in the way in which co-production is enacted in funded research. © The Author(s) 2023.

Using a six-step co-design model to rapidly respond to cancer carers support and information needs during a global pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic placed severe strain on cancer carers resulting in an urgent need for information and support. METHODS: The Santin 2019 6-step co-design model was used to rapidly modify an existing online cancer carers resource. Draft content of a COVID-19 module was created via two workshops and six meetings with an expert advisory team (Step 1). This content was then produced into videoed testimonials (Step 2). A module prototype was reviewed by volunteers (Step 3) and modified based on feedback (Step 4). User-testing occurred via two online feedback sessions (Step 5) and modifications were made (Step 6). All steps were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. RESULTS: A COVID-19 support, and information module was rapidly co-designed by n = 45 stakeholders (n = 11 workshop 1 and 2 (3 carers/14 professionals), n = 6 advisory committee (1 carer/5 professionals), n = 4 video content (1 carer/3 professionals) and n = 24 feedback sessions (5 carers/19 professionals). The module contained vaccination information, infection control and how to manage the psychosocial impact of restrictions. Information was delivered in 4 short videos with links to up-to-date guidance and information services. Participants identified that the module included all key information for carers in an accessible and informative way. The use of videos was viewed as an emotive and reassuring. CONCLUSIONS: During a global pandemic, cancer carers urgently required tailored information. Co-designed online resources allow service providers to rapidly respond to emerging and unprecedented issues and provide urgent information and support.

Co-production of a feasibility trial of pacing interventions for Long COVID.

BACKGROUND: The high incidence of COVID-19 globally has led to a large prevalence of Long COVID but there is a lack of evidence-based treatments. There is a need to evaluate existing treatments for symptoms associated with Long COVID. However, there is first a need to evaluate the feasibility of undertaking randomised controlled trials of interventions for the condition. We aimed to co-produce a feasibility study of non-pharmacological interventions to support people with Long COVID. METHODS: A consensus workshop on research prioritisation was conducted with patients and other stakeholders. This was followed by the co-production of the feasibility trial with a group of patient partners, which included the design of the study, the selection of interventions, and the production of dissemination strategies. RESULTS: The consensus workshop was attended by 23 stakeholders, including six patients. The consensus from the workshop was to develop a clinical trial platform that focused on testing different pacing interventions and resources. For the co-production of the feasibility trial, patient partners selected three pacing resources to evaluate (video, mobile application, and book) and co-designed feasibility study processes, study materials and undertook usability testing of the digital trial platform. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this paper reports the principles and process used to co-produce a feasibility study of pacing interventions for Long COVID. Co-production was effective and influenced important aspects of the study.

The World Health Organisation defines Long COVID as a condition which impacts people 3 months after they first had COVID-19. Some of the symptoms that characterise Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness and brain fog. These symptoms have a major impact on people's health and quality of life. Today, over 2 million people in the United Kingdom suffer from Long COVID and there is a lack of drugs and non-drugs treatment. However, some non-drugs treatments which aim to manage fatigue in other conditions, such as pacing, could be used with people with Long COVID. In this paper, we report how we co-produced a study which tested whether or not it is feasible for people who have Long COVID to use a pacing resource and report their symptoms using an electronic platform. After a meeting to review existing non-drugs treatments, the research team and a group of patient partners agreed on co-developing a clinical trial platform to test different pacing resources. The research team then met with the patient partners twice a week to co-design the study during which people with Long COVID will use the pacing resources and report their symptoms. They also co-designed the study documents and how to report its results. Co-producing a study with patient partners was effective and influenced important aspects of the study.

Recovery in Mind: A Recovery College's journey through the Covid-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The Covid-19 restrictions of 2020-2021 are known to have undermined the UK population's mental health. Working alongside staff, peer trainers and students at Recovery in Mind (RiM), a Recovery College (RC) in West Berkshire, England, this mixed-methods study is amongst the first to investigate how an RC has responded to the pandemic. METHODS: Working in co-production with RiM staff and peer-trainers, this study employed a mixed-methods design, gathering Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) well-being outcome measures by questionnaire and student experience, learning and co-production by interviews. FINDINGS: This research found that RiM continued to produce demonstrable improvements in student mental health. Students welcomed the way that RiM adapted to offering online and socially distanced provisions. Students valued the skills that RiM taught and the way that RiM courses reinforced prior learning; above this, however, they valued the mutual support and sense of community that participation provided. CONCLUSION: This study underlines the value of RCs maintaining 'hidden curriculums' of peer support and community involvement. This research emphasizes co-production as not only a tool for empowerment or service improvement but as a valuable skill for personal mental health recovery. Even when operating under the most unforeseen or challenging of conditions, RCs should always endeavour to prioritize and maintain co-production. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: In accordance with the RC ethos, this was an entirely co-produced study, with academic researchers and RiM staff and peer trainers working democratically in partnership with one another to design and manage the study and to write up and disseminate findings. To ensure the independence and rigour of findings, data analysis was undertaken by external academic researchers.