Co-designing interventions to increase food access: perceptions and experiences of community member end-users

TL;DR

Community members play a key role in co-designed food access projects, and their involvement helps make initiatives more relevant and effective.

Contribution

This study provides new insights into the experiences and perceptions of community end-users in co-designed food access initiatives.

Findings

Community Advisors were motivated by social connection, helping others, and skill-building.

Advisors contributed to trust-building and ensuring the project's relevance to the community.

Sustainable funding and cultural diversity among Advisors are needed for long-term success.

Abstract

Access to healthy, affordable food is a challenge in many communities. There is growing recognition that co-designed, community-led approaches, which directly involve end-users in the development, implementation, and evaluation processes, are needed to create effective and contextually appropriate food access interventions. However, limited research has examined the experiences and perceptions of the end-users who play a central role in these processes. This study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of community member end-users (termed Community Advisors) involved in a co-designed food access initiative titled food uniting neighbours (f.u.n.).

A qualitative approach was used. Data were collected through focus groups and individual interviews with f.u.n. Community Advisors (n = 12).

Four major themes were identified: 1) Motivation to be a Community Advisor, including social connection, helping others, and skill-building; 2) Importance of Community Advisors to the Co-Designed Project, highlighting their role in humanizing the project, building trust, and ensuring community relevance; 3) Facilitators of Community Advisor Success such as mutual respect, teamwork, and administrative support; and 4) Suggestions for Improvement which emphasized the need for greater cultural diversity among the Advisors and more sustainable funding structures.

Community member end-users play a vital role in co-designed food access solutions contributing authenticity, trust, and deep community insight. Findings suggest that inclusive representation, supportive team dynamics, and stable funding may help sustain meaningful engagement of community members in co-designed initiatives. These findings underscore the importance of developing co-designed processes that are not only empowering but also structurally supported to ensure long-term impact.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40900-025-00788-y.

Access to healthy, affordable food is a serious challenge in many communities. Co-design is a research approach in which people directly affected by an issue help shape the solutions. This approach ensures that programs created reflect the real needs and experiences of the people they are meant to help. In this study, community members with experience facing challenges related to food access co-designed a project, titled food uniting neighbours (f.u.n). These community members, who we refer to as Community Advisors, are local residents who co-run and guide the project with researchers. While co-design is becoming more common, there is limited research on the role of community members and their perceptions of the co-design process. To address this gap, we spoke to 12 Community Advisors through focus groups and interviews to gain insight into why they became involved, the roles they played, and the supports they needed to successfully implement the co-designed project. By understanding their experiences, we can improve how co-design projects are planned, implemented, and supported.

Four key themes emerged:

1. Why they joined—to connect with others, help their community, and build skills.

2. Their impact—they made the project more relatable, trustworthy, and relevant.

3. What helped them succeed—mutual respect, strong teamwork, and good support.

4. What could be better—more cultural diversity among Advisors and stable funding.

The study shows that community members are essential to co-designed projects. To support their involvement, future co-designed projects should prioritize inclusive practices, strong communication, and reliable resources.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40900-025-00788-y.