How Do We Know Co-Created Solutions Work Effectively within the Real World of People Living with Dementia? Learning Methodological Lessons from a Co-Creation-to-Evaluation Case Study

Abstract

Living Labs (LL) are a novel and potentially robust way of addressing real-life health challenges, especially within the dementia field. Generally, LLs focus on co-creating through implementing the quadruple helix partnership as a user-centric approach to co-creating. In the context of this paper, the users were people with dementia and their informal carers. LL are not necessarily environments that evaluate these co-created innovations within the real world. Considering this disconnect between co-creation and real-world evaluation, this paper, as a critical commentary, will reflect on the methodological lessons learnt during the development of an LL model aimed at addressing this discrepancy. The LL at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) was commissioned to co-create and then evaluate a new Dementia Reablement Service. The case study findings revealed that the Dementia Reablement Service had a positive impact on the quality of life of people with dementia, suggesting that the service is a catalyst for positive change. In addition, the critical learning from this case study highlights the potential role of LLs in seamlessly co-creating and then evaluating the co-created solution within the real world. A benefit of this way of working is that it provides opportunities for LLs to secure access to traditional research funding.