Conference Agenda

Patient-centeredness is advocated as a key ethical factor when designing healthcare artifacts, practices, and systems. Centeredness is constructed within particular cultural contexts and co-produced through performance by various actors within the encompassing system. In this paper, we seek to identify “patient-centeredness” by comparing two different ecosystems, the US and Italy, by systematically mapping cases and projects that claim to have been designed through a patient-centered approach. By systematically mapping the projects and their network of stakeholders, we developed a set of ecosystem categorizations that allowed for comparison between locations, distilling patient-centered values, projects, actors and organizations that seem to be leading patient-centered innovation. We describe how patient-centered values are embedded in real-life projects in the healthcare industry identifying exemplary cases and gaps for reimagining the future of care.

The paradigm shift in healthcare delivery models is leading to individuals assuming greater responsibilities and control, as the agency is moving from doctor-centric to patient-centric. To foster a patient-led culture of care, health and data literacy are essential, especially in the context of global challenges, where citizen awareness is fundamental to play actively in co-creating knowledge. This paper outlines a methodological approach and the outcomes of a design research project focused on promoting engagement and literacy to facilitate citizen and patient participation in addressing the antimicrobial resistance threat. The approach is tested in the format of an experimental workshop, inspired by the procedure of the antibiogram. Data physicalization modalities are considered to promote literacy in healthcare and involve citizens in data collection practices to explain the scientific phenomenon of AMR, engage non-experts in understanding antibiotic functionalities and share personal information related to consumption behaviours.

Designers have been conducting research within healthcare with a limited ethical reflections, only considering aspects to get the approval from the corresponding ethics committee. That fails to reflect on the issues that may arise during fieldwork (ethics in the field), especially since designs involvement is precisely to understand intangible aspects such as personal values and experiences. In view of this and responding to the DRS 2022 conversation on Design+Ethics, we explore the knowledge gap in the intersection of ethics, design and healthcare, and present a case study in the context of service design within oncology carepath. Upon reviewing the existing literature, we identify a set of ethical principles and use them to redefine the tools and protocols we plan to use in our service exploration, during shadowing specifically. Our paper responds to the need of bridging procedural ethics in the field, by anticipating and reflecting on ethical dilemmas and issues.

This paper focuses on places of healing for co-diagnosed patients who suffer from both mental and medical illnesses. Comorbidity is recognized as a growing concern yet there is little prece-dent in the healthcare industry for designing spaces that respond to needs of patients who re-quire hospitalization for medical conditions, and who simultaneously suffer mental health disor-ders. To explore this problem, we created a workshop to engage healthcare providers, adminis-trators and healthcare architects with undergraduate and graduate students in art, architecture, visual communications and urban design. Our goal was to identify issues that must be ad-dressed through the lens of patients and providers, and to generate design concepts for this largely unprecedented space type. Lived experiences of doctors, nurses and healthcare designers were central to guiding the design investigation. Insights from the workshop create pathways for future research and industry application that prioritize cultures of care for co-diagnosed pa-tients and caregivers.

The pursuit of equity in access to healthcare services for people with visual impairments has been a persistent challenge attributed to comorbidities, as well as physical and attitudinal barriers. The incompatibility of guidelines and practices within health systems leads to complex interactions between users and services. Through this systematic literature review, we aimed to explore the potential of User-Centered Design to enhance user experiences for the visually impaired within health systems. We surveyed peer-reviewed journal papers published between 2013 and 2023 on Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science. We identified fourteen studies, primarily focusing on projects aimed at understanding the challenges faced by individuals with visual impairments to improve accessibility and usability. User involvement is a pivotal aspect of most projects. The studies clearly demonstrate the potential of User-Centered Design to provide better experiences for these users.

The aim of this paper is to explore the practice of people-centred design using design thinking in healthcare for people with arthritis. People-centred design has significantly progressed in the healthcare industry, including the management of arthritis. This paper reports a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Framework. It explores the research and practice in the person-centred design of healthcare services for people with arthritis. Six databases were searched: Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, PubMed, Psych info, and Cinahl. Inclusion criteria included service for the management of arthritis, written in English and published between 2011 and 2023. A total of 27 articles were included in the review. This is part of a dual-disciplinary doctoral study illustrating healthcare services for people with arthritis and potential improvements in people-centred design guided by design thinking.