Health care systems are required to be responsive to changing population needs. Globally, the proportion of persons aged 60 years and over is increasing and is set to continue to grow for at least the next two decades. The Australian Government’s Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (2021) identified the need to improve the delivery of health care to meet the needs of older persons and their carers. A greater involvement of older persons and their carers in research to develop solutions was recommended.

Engagement of older persons and their carers in participatory health research as co-researchers is one such mechanism for this to occur. While there is considerable evidence around older persons and participatory research, little guidance exists for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers around engaging older persons and their carers in participatory health research. Guidance identifying strategies to translate the recommendations of the Royal Commission into practice is imperative to improving the responsiveness of the Australian health care system for older persons and their carers.

To build more responsive systems of health care, it is imperative to optimise the engagement of older persons and their carers and consider the:

• barriers and facilitators to engaging older persons and their carers in health research
• approaches to optimise the engagement of older persons and their carers as co-researchers in participatory health research, and
• considerations for specific populations, such as First Nations Elders, older persons with multimorbidity and complex conditions including cognitive impairment, older persons and carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those residing in non-metropolitan settings.