The Australian Cancer Plan places co-design with stakeholders firmly at the centre of Australian cancer research and practice. But what is co-design, and how can it be used to improve equity and delivery of quality cancer care for priority cancer populations?
In this symposium, we will discuss different approaches to achieving best practice co-design in the development, adaptation, evaluation, and implementation of healthcare interventions and health service improvements. We will provide insights into different co-design methodologies and key learnings from engaging with diverse groups of Australian cancer service users. We will focus on four priority or under-represented cancer populations: The first talk will discuss application of cross-cultural communication methodology using three case studies targeting identified inequities in medication safety, access to care coordination and continuity of care between primary and specialist providers with multicultural communities. The second talk will present a case study using a co-creation framework to co-develop and implement supportive information resources for adolescents and young adults with cancer. The third talk will explore the unique needs of family carers of people with cancer and will present two case studies using co-design with carers to support carer communication with healthcare professionals, and manage carer anxiety and/or depression. Talk four will present inclusive co-design approaches for people with intellectual disability and cancer to develop and implement an experience measure suitable for people with intellectual disability. Talk five will present results of a recently completed state of the art review on experience-based co-design which highlights variation in application of terminology, theory and practice, making application to real world settings challenging.
The goal of this symposium is to share key methodological and practical insights into using co-design in a meaningful, user centred way to support improvements in equity and quality across Australian cancer care and research.