Co-Design for Ageing: From Participation to Systemic Change

Although public-facing services are vital to daily life, their increasing digitisation marginalises ageing populations. Community-led, participatory approaches offer a pathway to more inclusive, equitable, and responsive service design; however, these practices remain fragmented and limited in long-term impact. We used a thematic review to examine the application of community-led practices in the context of ageing, focusing on public services, healthcare, and hybrid service systems. Sources published between 2020 and 2025 were identified through structured searches across Scopus and the ACM Digital Library. By synthesising contributions from co-design, participatory design, living labs, cultural probes, and intergenerational approaches, this research identifies their value and limitations in supporting older adults. While co-design has generated valuable insights into the lived experiences of ageing citizens, practices are constrained by short-termism, methodological fragility, and uneven inclusivity – particularly in hybrid and digital-first service contexts. We advocate shifting from project-bound engagements to more systemic, long-term, and policy-aligned co-design models that address the relational and collective dimensions of ageing, supported by a framework embedding co-design as a systemic innovation in ageing futures. This review contributes to ongoing debates in design, health, and social policy by identifying future directions for embedding co-design as a sustainable practice in ageing futures.