Challenges in co‐produced dementia research: A critical perspective and discussion to inform future directions

Abstract

Key points There is a move towards meaningful collaboration of people living with dementia in the research process, but these processes are rarely critiqued, with more critical reflection needed. Current academic structures, frameworks, and funding processes limit meaningful collaboration, particularly in relation to academic language and hierarchies of evidence. There is a need for an environment that can enable the collaboration that is at the heart of a co‐produced ethos, but creating such an environment of reciprocity in dementia research requires extensive time, resources and emotional support. It is important to embrace the tensions of the contexts we, as researchers, work within and continue to strive towards learning and growth, and fairer and more equitable ways of working in co‐produced dementia research.