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Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Co-design of a systematic review: a shared reflection
Critical Public Health, Vol.36(1), pp.1-10
2026
Abstract
Engaging people who have lived experience (LE) of a topic of enquiry increases the efficacy, integrity and robustness of research. This group bring improvements to all kinds of research, including systematic reviews. This paper is a shared reflection on the process of conducting a systematic literature review as a team including people living with mental and physical health concerns (with and without a research background) and researchers. We met several times to discuss the key aspects that made our shared work together successful, and identified key themes that we agreed were reflective of our shared experience. Reflecting on the process of the systematic review led the authors to identify the following themes as important areas of consideration when researchers and LE experts work in partnership: development and execution of meaningful partnership, skills development, decision making, academic guidelines, and history of gatekeeping of LE leadership. These themes speak to the necessity of power-sharing and interpersonal skills in the effective conduct of the co-designed systematic review. Academic guidelines regarding research methods (i.e. systematic literature reviews) may serve to replicate the existing power dynamics in research—prioritising research knowledge over lived experience perspectives. Researchers wanting to engage with people with lived experience must maintain reflexivity and flexibility in how they approach research, including in how decisions are made, to ensure that the engagement of lived experience experts is meaningful and transparent.
Details
- Title
- Co-design of a systematic review: a shared reflection
- Authors
- Rosiel Elwyn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteTessa-May Zirnsak (Corresponding Author) - La Trobe UniversityMelanie Sherrin (Author) - La Trobe UniversityMichael Burge (Author)Amrita Dasvarma (Author)Judith Drake (Author)Lyn English (Author)Darren Jiggins (Author)Heidi La Paglia Reid (Author)Ailsa Rayner (Author)Leighann Spencer (Author) - La Trobe UniversityRussell Roberts (Author) - Charles Sturt UniversityChris Maylea (Author) - La Trobe University
- Publication details
- Critical Public Health, Vol.36(1), pp.1-10
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1080/09581596.2025.2594124
- ISSN
- 1469-3682; 0958-1596
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Data Availability
- Data can be accessed upon request. Please contact the corresponding author, Tessa-May Zirnsak: T.Zirnsak@latrobe.edu.au.
- Grant note
- The systematic review on which this paper reflects was funded by the Australian Federal Government.
- Organisation Unit
- Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991193345802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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