Applying the principles of Design Thinking to the Intensive Care Environment

Abstract

Patient-centered care and evidence-based medicine are mantras that form the foundation of modern healthcare practice. Yet, most of the tools for designing healthcare solutions, including randomized control trials, quality improvement initiatives, and even qualitative research, are often better adapted to providing an evidence-based foundation for practice at the expense of patient, family, and healthcare worker needs. These approaches tend to focus on improving outcomes and processes (Grys, 2022). Stakeholders — particularly patients, but also staff – are objects being scrutinized by “experts” under the scientific or medical gaze, filtering out what the “expert” deems as irrelevant (O’Callaghan, 2022). However, outcomes and processes are not sufficient if they do not prioritize human voice, dignity, and participation. Design thinking provides a complementary approach to evidence-based medicine by engaging the person in experimenting, prototyping, giving feedback, and redesigning healthcare solutions centered around the needs of humans (Razzouk & Shute, 2012). This article describes the process of design thinking as an approach to the creation of human-centered solutions and makes reference to the implementation of the design thinking process in the intensive care unit (ICU) of SickKids, an academic paediatric hospital in Ontario.