Healthcare Innovation by Design

joeheinowski:

THE HEALTHCARE MANIFESTO: a smarter role for design in healthcare

Priestmangoode is getting serious about what Design Thinking might do for healthcare – “Healthcare is something that we all have to come across at some point in our lives. We believe that intelligent, efficient design has the potential to improve everyday life for millions of people each year.”

I have been hearing for a number of years about the possible need to bring back ward design. Well here it is in all it’s minimalist prefabricated splendor. I hope this sparks some serious discussion about this “back to the future” take on healthcare environments. Today’s shiny 2001 A Space Odyssey can easily turn into a cold inhuman environment that was the butt of the joke in Jacques Tati’s Play Time or the dingy bus terminal with ganged seating . If healthcare becomes the genome wonderland of our dreams, this may be the answer. We will see.

The Design Points

01 “Healthcare is bigger than hospital” While much attention has already boon paid to solving issues around hygiene and patient dignity inside NHS hospitals using design, there now needs to be greater consideration to the bigger questions of health institutions beyond the emergency room and hospital wards. Design can make a huge contribution to reducing waiting lists, bringing down stay times, and saving money right across the healthcare system.

02 “Built environments for healthcare need to be thought out top-down not bottom-up” Patient environments are a complex set of multifunctional spaces, which need to be thought through as a whole. All too often these spaces ‘emerge’ as new equipment, fumiture and staff procedures are integrated into the big system. Design can re-think these challenges in a smart, cost-efficient way.

03 “Patient accommodation is not flexible enough” Individual spaces need to be redesigned to allow for a really wide range of different patient needs. In the ward this is often about better use of small spaces, creating solutions for toileting, or more solid dividing walls for better privacy. In care homes, and longer stay buildings, this is more around offering people the facilities to live more independently.

04 “Design spaces to fit” Environments are all too often built from a kit of parts that lust about do the job, rather than being designed for the needs of the patients and care staff that use them. 

05 “Modem equipment needn’t cost more” Equipment across the healthcare system is falling behind the times. With the right design brief, a better replacement can be developed that not only does a better job, using sustainable materials, but which also costs less to buy.

06 “Patient Care needs a big rethink” As the Parkinson Report highlights, nursing and patient care has become over-laden with processes and needs to be rethought in terms of ‘the patient journey’ not just how ‘the system’ functions if we are to restore dignity to healthcare.

Link: Full Manifesto