Future-proof Healthcare : Envisioning Active and Preemptive Healthcare Services
Prevention is always the best cure – not just for patients, but also an overloaded healthcare system that is serving many citizens. Hong Kong has just welcomed our first District Health Centre (DHC) in Kwai Tsing District. It will soon be joined by other newly established DHCs, which are expected to divert the heavy load on public hospitals through prevention, early identification and community treatment of chronic diseases.
A Design Thinking workshop was organised by the Institute of Design Knowledge of Hong Kong Design Centre, for healthcare leaders in the Professional Certificate Programme in Health System Leadership, CUHK in October 2019. Participants included government decision-makers, doctors, pharmacists, nursing supervisors, etc. Using the newly established District Health Centres in Hong Kong as the theme, they learned how design thinking could drive public healthcare innovations.
Who are we serving? Understanding the patient journey
The workshop participants were introduced to four profiles of potential DHC patients - an obese young working adult, a woman with chronic back pain, a social outcast student, and a diabetic driver. Through the mapping of patient journeys and emotion changes on their daily routine with potential encounterment with DHC's services, participants were able to build empathy on patients to identify possible innovation opportunities. For example, patients with chronic pain might be easily irritated and come into conflict with their closed ones who are urging them to seek medical help. These are crucial pain points that would otherwise have never been discovered and addressed.
The mapping process shed light on some key challenges of DHC. For example:
● How do patients know about DHC? (In other words, how to raise public awareness about DHC’s services?)
● What kind of new services should be provided as the next step?
● How to reduce chronic patients' reluctance to seek medical help?
● Will working adults fail to make an appointment outside of operation hours?
● What could be done to sustain a healthy ecosystem on community level?
Proposition for further action: “How might we…”
They came up with some possible areas of improvement which prompted a series of actionable problem statements, such as “how might we make the services of DHC known to potential patients?” and “how might we take a more proactive role in preventing chronic diseases in the community?” Drawing inspiration through cross-pollination — an ideation method referencing disruptive ideas in other industries, they designed and prototyped their own solutions and presented them in role-plays.
Some groups proposed to embed ads on YouTube channels or inside VR games to reach out to their target groups. Since many chronic disease patients tend to spend their time on TV series or video games, their unconventional promotion strategy on relevant platforms may suit their lifestyles better and increase the engagement rate to seek timely professional help.
Some other groups designed an all-in-one lifestyle management app which monitors the daily activities, diet and exercise habits of individuals. The blood glucose level records are saved in the app so that doctors, nurses and even family members can keep track on the patient’s progress at a glance. As an initiative to promote a healthy lifestyle, citizens with a balanced diet and regular exercise habit will also be rewarded.
"Good design is beyond aesthetics, function and efficiency.
It is about empathy, vision and creativity."
"Good design is beyond aesthetics, function and efficiency. It is about empathy, vision and creativity."
Conform or Create? Which one would lead to real change?
Dr. Edmund Lee, Executive Director of Hong Kong Design Centre, wrapped up the workshop and elucidated design thinking’s relevance to healthcare innovation, “Good design is beyond aesthetics, function and efficiency. It is about empathy, vision and creativity. We should learn how to frame problems and set design challenges. Take Helix Centre in the UK as an example, they have set up an innovation lab in the hospital to help them understand thoroughly the problems they are facing. When we innovate, we should also avoid worrying too much about the limitations and constraints, because we can never find a situation where we have sufficient of everything. What really matters is prioritization.”
Some participants responded to Dr Lee’s sharing and reflected on their own experience, “In the healthcare industry, many of us tend to conform and comply, which is counter-intuitive to innovation. Sometimes if we are too occupied with the described intent or individual patients, we would miss out on the big picture. But with design thinking as a new tool for our team, we are empowered to learn together and co-design something new from now on.”