Systematic Review of Contemporary Theories Used for Co-creation, Co-production and Co-design in Public Health

Background: Conceptual clarity is needed for co-creation, co-production and co-design by categorising the contemporary theories (including theoretical frameworks) used in each, in the context of public health research. Methods: The reporting of this systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We systematically searched PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and APA PsycINFO from 2012 as markedly arisen interest in co-creation, co-production and co-design, until March-April 2022. A quality assessment was performed in addition to data extraction for theory content. Results: Of the 3,763 unique references identified through the comprehensive search strategy, 10 articles were included in the review: four articles named co-creation, two articles named co-creation and co-design, two articles named co-production and co-design, and two articles named co-design. Empowerment Theory was employed by two articles, while the other theories were only employed by one article. For the quality assessment, eight articles received a strong rating and two articles received a moderate rating. Conclusions: Based on the few articles included in this review – little progress has been made over the last ten years. Yet the theories described in this review may help to identify theories useful for developing co-creation, co-design and co-production in public health research.