Table 4.

Type of activity used within ‘co’approaches

Method	Activity used by authors in this review	Definition/description from general literature or from the papers in the review
Research methods	(Semi-structured) interviews [38, 42, 46, 50]	‘Where the researcher has a list of questions or specific topics to be asked using an interview guide. Questions do not have to be followed as per the guide and new questions can be asked as the researcher picks up on things the interviewee says.’ [51]
	Focus groups [44, 46, 48, 49]	‘A form of group interview with a number of participants and a moderator. Questions follow a fairly tightly defined topic with a focus on interaction between the group.’ [51]
	Observations [44]	‘Immersion in a group for a period of time observing behaviour, listening to what is said and asking questions.’ [51]
	Surveys/feedback forms [32, 42, 44]	‘Respondents read and answer a series of questions themselves.’[51]
	Qualitative enquiry [47]	‘Qualitative inquiry refers to “a broad approach” that qualitative researchers adopt as a means to examine social circumstances. The inquiry is based on an assumption which posits that people utilize “what they see, hear, and feel” to make sense of social experiences. The meanings and interpretations of the participants are the essence of qualitative inquiry.’ [52]
	Guideline/literature appraisal [42]	‘a synthetic review and summary of what is known and unknown regarding the topic of a scholarly body of work, including the current work's place within the existing knowledge.’ [53]
Prioritisation and consensus methods	Prioritisation/ranking [27, 31, 34, 43]	‘At the point of defining which of several ideas we should take forward. The visual act of assessing for impact and feasibility can be done in a participatory and visual way.’ [34]
	Consensus [37, 42]	‘Consensus methods provide a means of harnessing the insights of appropriate experts to enable decisions to be made.’ [54]. They are ‘a way to gather general agreement on topics that do not yet have empirical evidence to support future decisions or actions; often, these topics are ambiguous or controversial. Consensus methods can also be used as a way to forecast future events or create decision protocols.’ [55]
	Nominal Group technique [48, 49]	‘The purpose is to generate ideas, which are discussed and ranked by the group. The group is 'nominal' to the extent that it is highly controlled and discussion is allowed only during the later stages of the group process. It was originally designed to avoid the problems associated with traditional interacting groups.’ [56]
	Delphi technique [47]	‘a group of 'expert' participants are sent a postal questionnaire about the area of interest. Responses are then sent to a panel who collate and assess the participants views, which are then fed-back to the participants, usually in the form of a more structured questionnaire. The participants return their second responses to the panel and the process is repeated for as many rounds as necessary to achieve either a consensus on the subject under study, or allow a full understanding of opposing perspectives to be achieved.’ [56]
Research co-production/co-design	Engaging all stakeholders throughout research project [29, 44–46]Joint leading project team, refine scope, develop research questions, develop and review content, protocol development and adaptation, collect data and reflect on findings- patients as researchers throughout project, assist in implementation	‘co-producing a research project is an approach in which researchers, practitioners and the public work together, sharing power and responsibility from the start to the end of the project, including the generation of knowledge.’ [12] Integrated Knowledge translation is a specific form of research co-production. It is described as ‘a model of collaborative research, where researchers work with knowledge users who identify a problem and have the authority to implement the research recommendations.’ [57]
Creative methods	Making activities [31, 34]	‘used as vehicles for collectively (e.g. designers and co-designers together) exploring, expressing and testing hypotheses about future ways of living.’ [58]
	Warm up activities [28, 34, 35, 43]	‘Not just ice breakers warm up activities focus on supporting individuals to recognise their own unique ability to contribute to creative process regardless of background or role in project’. [34]
	LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® [31]	‘Based on research which shows that hands-on, minds-on learning produces a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the world and its possibilities, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology deepens the reflection process and supports an effective dialogue – for everyone in the organization.’ [59] The techniques ‘stimulate ideas and creativity, work with metaphor, symbolism and association and are highly democratic and non-hierarchical.’ [60]
	Sketching and drawing [31, 39–41, 46, 50]	‘Sketching is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work. It may serve a number of purposes: it might record something that the artist sees, it might record or develop an idea for later use or it might be used as a quick way of graphically demonstrating an image, idea or principle’ [61]. Drawing as a participatory research method ‘relies on researcher-participant collaboration to make meaning of the drawing.’ [62]
	Personas [30, 34, 35, 38]	Fictional characters representing a particular group and their interests and needs. [63, 64]. They can be used ‘to visually represent peoples experiences through characters that allow critical distance from participants’ own experience.’ [34]
	Maps/user journeys [28, 34, 35, 38]	‘A vivid and structural visualisation of a service users experience. Touchpoints, where users interact with the service, are often used to construct a ‘journey’/engaging story based on their experience.’ [64] ‘It may show pitfalls and opportunities and support choices of route and targets.’ [63] They can be ‘useful when the journey (service or user) is usually not visible to all actors. The visual aspect allows all participants to contribute adding new lines or items.’ [34]
	Posters [34, 35]	Can be used to ‘summarise progress to date or remind participants of the goal of the workshop/project.’ [34]
	Storyboards [34]	‘A series of drawings or pictures that visualise a particular sequence of events. May include a common situation where a service is used or the hypothetical implementation of a new service prototype’ [64]. They often’ resemble a comic strip with captions.’ [63]They can be used to ‘visually represent either problems or solutions that allow participants to suggest different key steps or endings that might lead to a better outcome.’[34]
	Scenarios [30, 48]	‘A story, typically of how people perform a part of their lives or an interaction with a product or service.’ [63]
	Role play [37]	‘The physical acting out of scenarios and prototypes in a situation that resembles a theatre rehearsal.’ [64]
	Research based theatre (post performance panel discussions) [32]	‘Research-based Theatre provides a multi-disciplinary platform that enables the impact of original research to extend its reach beyond academic publications and presentations.’ [32]‘Experiencing live Theatre performance created from research findings deepens understanding and allows for learning through cognitive and emotional engagement and debate of complex and contested issues during post-show discussion.’ [65]
	Ideation [30, 35, 39–41, 48]	‘The process of generating ideas.’ [63] ‘Ideation techniques are used to structure and inspire group brainstorming sessions. Usually simple exercises which can be used to stimulate group discussion whilst providing structure within which to work.’ [64]
	Blue sky thinking [30, 35, 39–41, 48]	Creative ideas that are not limited by current thinking or beliefs. [66]
	Prototyping [28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 38–41, 44, 45, 48, 49]	‘Artifacts created to explore a (design) question or to express a conceptual design, used to evaluate ideas with users’ [63]. They are ‘physical manifestations of ideas or concepts. They range from rough (giving the overall idea only) to finished (resembling the actual end result). To give form to an idea, and to explore technical and social feasibility. Co-designers create the prototypes to envision their ideas and to display and to get feedback on these ideas from other stakeholders.’ [58]They make ‘a process or idea tangible and can be 2D (sketch or video) or 3D (proof of concept visualisation or fully working). They are good for communicating ideas and gathering feedback.’ [34]
	Trigger films [30]	A method used in Experience Based Co-Design that involves making ‘a video film of ‘touchpoints’ (where interaction with a service occurs) from patient experience interviews that exemplify good or bad experiences of a service.’ [67]
	Future Workshops [30] (Personas , scenarios- described in creative methods)	Future workshop is a method that aims to have stakeholders design their desired future, avoiding constraints imposed by experts or organizations. [68]
	‘Talking points’ [42]	‘Talking points are part of the HealthTalk/DIPEx patient experience approach which are well-established methods of qualitative research which are based on the pioneering work the Health Experiences Research Group in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at University of Oxford.’ [69]Talking points are described as a presentation of themes through video, audio or text format. [42]
Other	A writing committee [43]	Training to support writing and resources to help writing and amending a guideline.[43]
	Improvement – in practice- in context [33]	‘through the generation of practice-based evidence, with researchers and clinicians working together to co-construct and evaluate a new account of practice.’ [33]
	Note cards/post cards [27, 35, 48, 49]
	Meetings [36, 44]
	Teleconferences [44]
	Presentations [37, 42]