Identifying priorities and mapping opportunities to improve the quality of communication with patients living with dementia who are undergoing treatment and/or recovery in the orthopaedic surgery department.
Sandra Neves
sandra.neves@ipleiria.pt
01.11.22 — present
Context
Dementia affects 55 million people worldwide (WHO, 2022). In Portugal, it affects 182,521 people and this will increase to 322,000 by 2037. In addition, Portugal is the fourth OECD country with the most cases per thousand people (OECD, 2021). The prominence of dementia in Portugal highlights social concerns and their implications for successful healthcare provision. Understanding the needs, desires and emotions of people living with dementia becomes more increasingly challenging as the disease progresses. Overcrowding and complex clinical practices in hospitals can bring difficulties for healthcare professionals in finding the time to communicate effectively with patients. This situation can impact patients’ emotions and motivation. However, communication plays a fundamental role in supporting patients during their treatment and care in hospitals.
Approach
This project was led by design researchers at LiDA. We used a participatory co-design approach to engage healthcare professionals in dialogues about communication with patients living with dementia in hospitals. The aim was to develop insights that will support further investigations into how to redesign communication to promote the quality of experience for both healthcare professionals and patients living with dementia who are undergoing treatment and/or recovery in the orthopaedic surgery department of the hospital. In this project, we used visual tools and narrative animation techniques to bring information to life, understand current issues, and synthesise priorities to support improvements in hospital communication.
The process involved two stages: the present and the future mapping. (see Figure 1)
Stage 1: The present mapping
To understand the current communication practices in the hospital with people living with dementia, we conducted observations over a period of 5 days in the orthopaedical department. We used notebooks to sketch and document our observations in real-time. Here, we collected a variety of events that we considered important to animate such as mealtimes, daily care routines, pre and post-surgery interactions. These observations were intended to stimulate reflection among professionals during a participatory workshop, thereby enhancing their understanding of the present state of communication.
Stage 2: The future mapping
In order to gain deeper insights into what could significantly enhance future communication with people living with dementia in hospitals, we conducted a hybrid co-design workshop involving healthcare professionals from the orthopaedic department. The workshop took place both in a designated room at the hospital and online, to accommodate the schedules of the participants. During the workshop, we utilised visual tools to stimulate participation and reflection, encouraging participants to share their ideas and perspectives on opportunities for improvement.
Findings
Participants
ESAD - Escola Superior de Artes e Design das Caldas da Rainha
Centro Hospitalar do Oeste
This project is financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the Programmatic Funding allocated to the Research Laboratory in Design and Arts (LIDA) with the reference “UIDP/05468/2020″.
