Designing a more active patient role in Public Health Services

The healthcare system is complex and can be overwhelming—and sometimes disempowering—for patients. The design of spaces, products and processes can either reinforce these barriers or actively help to overcome them.

In this project, the Design Institute for Healthy Design collaborates with professionals, affected individuals, and interested participants to explore the potential of design as both a method and a solution. Design workshops will be conducted in three different facilities: a children’s hospital, a care home, and a rehabilitation clinic. The results will be compiled and presented in at least two public, participatory formats—one in a rural area and one in an urban setting. Civil society is invited to identify problem areas and to create mock-ups as rapid prototypes at mini co-design stations. Through social media, these ideas will be made accessible to a broad audience. A publication via website, podcast, and lectures aims to initiate a long-term discourse on the role of design in the healthcare system. The project is supported by partners from healthcare, design and civil society.

The Design Institute for Healthy Design conducts research, designs and educates on health-promoting design. The project involves designer, design researcher and preventologist Dr Jonas Rehn-Groenendijk, architectural psychologist Jula Merkel and human geographer and participation expert Anna Wasmer.