Towards Inclusive Healthcare Delivery: Potentials and Challenges of Human-Centred Design in Health Innovation Processes to Increase Healthy Aging.

Catharina Thiel Sandholdt,Maria Kristiansen,Jason Cunningham,Rudi G.J Westendorp

doi:10.3390/ijerph17124551

Abstract

National healthcare systems need to adjust services and operations to accommodate the needs of complex, aging populations living with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. This paper suggests the use of a human-centred design as a method to engage older adults and key professionals in innovation processes aiming to design person-centred healthcare services and improve quality of life in older adults. We outline three innovation phases and highlight how such processes can create engagement and new insights on how life experiences of older adult’s shape preferences, beliefs, and habits. It is important to incorporate these insights into the design of successful strategies for ensuring age-friendly healthcare services. Our viewpoint is contextualised through a small-scale case study focusing on polypharmacy in older adults. From this case study, we extracted three challenges to producing co-designed health research: recruitment, time and resources, and funding. We discuss how to address these challenges. We argue for the involvement of older adults and professional stakeholders at an early stage in the design process to align expectations and to increase the likelihood of successful implementation of healthcare innovations that improve the quality of life for older adults.

Highlights

Population aging poses a challenge for healthcare systems in terms of increased expenses and a rise in multimorbid patients with complex needs [1]
We interviewed five older adults living with polypharmacy and one general practitioner (GP) caring for older adults with multimorbidity and polypharmacy
We advertised for older adults with multimorbidity through communication channels of a large aging research centre, social media, and by the general population and civil society organisations engaged in the field of healthy aging

Summary

Introduction

Population aging poses a challenge for healthcare systems in terms of increased expenses and a rise in multimorbid patients with complex needs [1] This shifting dynamic is creating an impetus to understand the needs of this new patient demographic and create effective and acceptable care, tailored to their unique needs, and to allow for as many healthy years as possible. This population, has a high prevalence of multimorbidity and requires care that is person-centred and coordinated, which is challenging in the current healthcare environment [2]. Public Health 2020, 17, 4551; doi:10.3390/ijerph17124551 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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