Co-Production of a Flexibly Delivered Relapse Prevention Tool to Support the Self-Management of Long-Term Mental Health Conditions: Co-Design and User Testing Study

Background: Supported self-management interventions, which assist individuals in actively understanding and managing their own health conditions, have a robust evidence base for chronic physical illnesses, such as diabetes, but have been underused for Objective: This study aims to co-design and user test a mental health supported self-management intervention, My Personal Recovery Plan (MyPREP), that could be flexibly delivered via digital and traditional paper-based mediums. Methods: This study adopted a participatory design, user testing, and rapid prototyping methodologies, guided by 2 frameworks: the 2021 Medical Research Council framework for complex interventions and an Australian co-production framework. Participants were aged >= 18 years, self-identified as having a lived experience of using mental health services or working in a peer support role, and possessed English proficiency. The co-design and user testing processes involved a first round with 6 participants, focusing on adapting a self-management resource used in a large-scale randomized controlled trial in the United Kingdom, followed by a second round with 4 new participants for user testing the co-designed digital version. A final round for gathering qualitative feedback from 6 peer support workers was conducted. Data analysis involved transcription, coding, and thematic Results: The key themes identified during the co-design and user testing sessions were related to (1) the need for self-management tools to be flexible and well-integrated into mental health services, (2) the importance of language and how language preferences