Healthy from the Start: Co-Designing Sleep, Nutrition and Physical Activity Resources for Young Shiftworkers—Novel Implementation and Evaluation

Abstract

Introduction

The increasing prevalence of shiftwork among young adults poses significant health risks, primarily due to its disruptive effects on sleep, nutrition and physical activity. Addressing these risks necessitates the development of tailored, evidence-based resources to support these key health behaviours. Participatory research approaches, engaging those with relevant lived experience (i.e., co-design) are a novel and effective approach in developing these resources. As such, the aim of the present study was to explore whether sleep, nutrition and physical activity resources for young shiftworkers could be developed using participatory, co-design approaches and how co-designers would rate both the approaches used and the resulting resources.

Methods

A participatory approach engaged co-designers (young, experienced or previous shiftworkers; workplace health and safety specialists; science communicators and academic experts) to complete 2–3 online questionnaires and participate in 1–2 online workshops, to co-design sleep, nutrition and physical activity resources for young shiftworkers. Following resource development, co-designers assessed both the participatory approach and the resulting resources, through an online questionnaire, which included the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool (PPEET).

Results

Co-designers (n = 48) participated in the development of sleep, nutrition and physical activity resources for young shiftworkers. Co-designers evaluated the participatory approach positively, with a mean rating across all PPEET items of 4.7 (±0.2) on a 5-point Likert scale. Co-designers also provided positive ratings for the resources, with the majority (91.7%) either agreeing or strongly agreeing that they were user-friendly, valuable and informative for young shiftworkers and would serve as a credible source of health information.

Conclusion

By adopting a novel participatory approach, we successfully co-designed sleep, nutrition and physical activity resources for young shiftworkers. Participatory approaches, including co-design, should be considered when developing health interventions for shiftworkers, given the value of embedding lived experience to address their unique lifestyle challenges.

Patient or Public Contribution

Co-designers and/or people with relevant lived experience were involved in all project activities: conceptualisation, design, recruitment, data collection, data analysis, knowledge translation and output generation.