Co-production and service user involvement are increasingly encouraged in mental health care research. However, power hierarchies in knowledge can affect the co-production of knowledge by stakeholders. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to deepen our understanding of the relational dynamics at stake in co-researching teams and larger groups of stakeholders involved in research. We reflect on a process of co-production in psychiatric emergency care and show the ethical responsibilities of researchers in dealing with the power dynamics. A collaborative reflection on the process of co-production shows that the voices of service users, who participated as co-researchers, were silenced, thereby reinforcing epistemic injustice. Ethics of care offered guidance for ethical reflection and ways to manage relational dynamics. Instead of ‘fight and flight’, the ‘tend and befriend’ option was fruitful for relational ethically sound co-production, leading to teams and stakeholders jointly reflecting on knowledge co-production. Relational reflexive work brings people together for solidarity, support, and advice.

Background: Citizen science and models for public participation in health research share normative ideals of participation, inclusion, and public and patient engagement. Academic researchers collaborate in research with members of the public involved in an issue, maximizing all involved assets, competencies, and knowledge. In citizen science new ethical issues arise, such as who decides, who participates, who is excluded, what it means to share power equally, or whose knowledge counts. This article aims to present an ethics framework that offers a lens of understanding and heuristic guidelines to deal with ethical issues in citizen science. Methods: We conducted seven case studies between 2015 and 2021 to attune and validate the ethics framework for the context of citizen science. The cases related to studies with older adults, people with a psychiatric vulnerability, people dependent on community care, people who are unemployed or living in poverty or both, and young adults with respiratory disease. Results: Ethics in citizen science reaches beyond the ethical issues in traditional biomedical and health research. It entails more than following procedures about informed consent and privacy and submitting a proposal to a Medical Research Ethics Committee. Ethics in citizen science relates to everyday ethical issues during the study, including relational and moral complexities concerning collaboration, sharing power, and democratic decision-making. Dealing with these issues requires ethics work of researchers. This entails seeing ethically salient issues and reflecting on everyday ethical issues. Ethics work consists of seven features: framing work, role work, emotion work, identity work, reason work, relationship work, and performance work. All are relevant for researchers in citizen science. Conclusions: Ethical issues in citizen science often relate to power differentials, partnership, and collaboration between academics and non-academics. The ethics framework prepares researchers for the work needed in citizen science to act responsibly and offers a heuristic guide to reflect on ethics. Reflection on ethics is a pathway towards ethical citizen science, especially if researchers collaboratively reflect in partnership with non-academics who are subject to the moral issue.

An emerging body of research indicates that active arts engagement can enhance older adults’ health and experienced well-being, but scientific evidence is still fragmented. There is a research gap in understanding arts engagement grounded in a multidimensional conceptualization of the value of health and well-being from older participants’ perspectives. This Dutch nation-wide study aimed to explore the broader value of arts engagement on older people’s perceived health and well-being in 18 participatory arts-based projects (dance, music, singing, theater, visual arts, video, and spoken word) for community-dwelling older adults and those living in long term care facilities. In this study, we followed a participatory design with narrative- and arts-based inquiry. We gathered micro-narratives from older people and their (in)formal caregivers (n = 470). The findings demonstrate that arts engagement, according to participants, resulted in (1) positive feelings, (2) personal and artistic growth, and (3) increased meaningful social interactions. This study concludes that art-based practices promote older people’s experienced well-being and increase the quality of life of older people. This study emphasizes the intrinsic value of arts engagement and has implications for research and evaluation of arts engagement.

The paper presents an alternative conceptualization of participation in order to offer legitimation and guidance for (new) scholars, policymakers and citizens, and to prepare them for the work that needs to be done to develop genuine participation practices that bring about positive change. Metaphors like the participation ladder not only explain and shape our communication but also shape the way we think and act. Metaphors can shape our perceptions and actions in ways we do not notice. So if we believe the critiques are correct and that participation encompasses much more than a hierarchical set of social relations that are devoid of context, we need an alternative lens that prepares us for the right expectations and unanticipated actions. Inspired by the work of the German philosopher Hannah Arendt, we shift away from a focus of participation ladders in decision-making to foreground acting and work instead, as this might help to overcome some of the current obstacles to designing genuine collaborative processes.

Background: Participatory health research (PHR) is a research approach in which people, including hidden populations, share lived experiences about health inequities to improve their situation through collective action. Boundary objects are produced, using arts-based methods, to be heard by stakeholders. These can bring about dialogue, connection, and involvement in a mission for social justice. This study aims to gain insight into the value and ethical issues of boundary objects that address health inequalities. A qualitative evaluation is conducted on three different boundary objects, created in different participatory studies with marginalized populations (mothers in poverty, psychiatric patients, and unemployed people). A successful boundary object evokes emotions among those who created the objects and those encountering these objects. Such objects move people and create an impulse for change. The more provocative the object, the more people feel triggered to foster change. Boundary objects may cross personal boundaries and could provoke feelings of discomfort and ignorance. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to ethics work. Boundary objects that are made by people from hidden populations may spur actions and create influence by improving the understanding of the needs of hidden populations. A dialogue about these needs is an essential step towards social justice.

A growing body of evidence suggests the positive impact of arts on health and wellbeing. The mechanisms underlying the impact however, remain overlooked.38 Semi-structured interviews were held with...