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English

Select Language

English

Service designer/Project manager

Geriatric Hospital Preparatory Office, National Cheng-Kung University Hospital

2021-2022

Space-time background

Chengda Elderly Hospital is expected to be operational in 2026, with a focus on the care needs of the elderly, developing integrated care services across professions, specialties, linking hospitals and communities, and complementing with smart medical technology. It is expected to serve as a center for the development of aging medical technology and care models.

Furthermore, in addition to the integration of clinical medical care, the design oriented towards the needs of the elderly users also hopes to be introduced in future elderly hospitals. Therefore, this project is expected to explore the potential impacts and response methods brought by the medical usage experiences of the elderly and caregivers, as well as the care methods of future elderly hospitals, through the method and approach of service design and user experience research.

Project goal

The project focuses on the care ecosystem of professional medical personnel, the elderly, families, and communities within the hospital service system. It involves conducting interviews and focus group data collection and analysis, building personas, demonstrating service design cases based on the personas, using the insights gathered as references for design iterations, and demonstrating the research methods and co-creation model of service design with members of the healthcare system.

Clinical staff pain point

Investigated clinical challenges and opinions on the medical system from 289 hospital staff. Analyzed their feedback to identify key themes and used them to segment users based on behavior.

Persona building

Researchers interviewed elderly care service users at hospital, home care services, and community organizations to understand their experiences. This qualitative analysis helps build a profile of this user group.

Profile Setup:

Qualitative analysis is conducted using information obtained from on-site exploration and in-depth interviews by the research team. Field research locations include on-site visits to the Cheng Kung Hospital outpatient department, home care, and community organizations for field surveys and in-depth interviews, to build a profile of elderly care service users.

Service design co-creation

Researchers held workshops for internal teams and partners to analyze field research and brainstorm service design ideas. Collaborative results were documented to guide further design development.

Qualitative Analysis of Clinical Staff Pain Points

According to a survey, we identified the difficulties or challenges encountered by 289 clinical personnel, possible reasons, approaches, and units to collaborate with. We utilized the verbatim data to conduct concept clustering and coding using the KJ method, extracting upper-level concepts. From the hierarchical tree of upper-level concepts, we can compare it with the field survey personnel data to serve as propositions for workshops and service design. We obtain numerous high-level propositions from this, such as relationships between caregivers of elderly patients, difficulties faced by elderly patients in the hospital, and communication and cognitive differences between hospitals and patients, etc.

KJ Law Operation

(Yellow: Original literal manuscript data)

(Red Orange Green: High-level concepts)

Departmental Network Analysis

In addition to qualitatively analyzing the challenges and potential approaches, quantitative social network analysis is also conducted on the interdepartmental interactions:

Cluster relationships between departments

From the perspective of inter-departmental collaboration, through Social Network Analysis (SNA), understanding the interaction and network between departments, and visually understanding the current expected collaborative relationships between departments, in the future, focus groups can be selected based on this, and the reasons behind the interaction between departments can be inferred from the focus groups.

Field Observation

In the field investigation, various types of narrative data centered on elderly patients were obtained, including various caregivers around elderly patients, such as spouses, children, home service workers, medical personnel, hospice workers, caregivers, and so on. The field data shows the relationships between many elderly people and caregivers, as well as the mutual influence among caregivers. Therefore, using the Stakeholder map, the strength of the relationships between elderly people and their caregivers and the factors influencing the choice of medical treatment field are depicted.

Field data collection

During field investigations, it was observed that besides establishing the patient's own medical history, the paired combination of stakeholder relationships around the patient has a complex and strong impact on care patterns, medical needs, and technological needs. Therefore, the project will shift its research focus from the original elderly persona to a pair persona (pair-persona).

Stakeholder map

Pairs of personas

Convert field data into profiles of elderly and caregivers, and provide two types of profiles to workshop participants for combining, exploring the issues and solutions that different pair-persona combinations may encounter.

After a serious illness, my limbs are less flexible, and I often move from wheelchair to bed. I've tied a rope around my waist, allowing me to pull myself if needed – a method I'm accustomed to. I exercise my arm strength independently and feel proud. To reach nearby items, I've crafted hook sticks, reducing the need for assistance. Managing daily medications is routine, following medical staff instructions. Concerned about my wife helping with heavy tasks, I worry for her safety.

Once a dedicated police officer, now at 75, I've lost the ability to walk, relying on a wheelchair. Despite severe disability, I maintain a positive attitude, seeking self-care methods and creating DIY solutions to avoid burdening others. I take pride in my abilities and prefer doing tasks independently, not relying on my wife or caregivers.

Background

Persona E1

Hao Da

Persona E1

Hao Da

82 years old

Maker who has adapted long-term after becoming disabled

Outgoing and disciplined in living principles

Story

Maker who has adapted long-term after becoming disabled

Fixing old things gives them value; they don't always need to be discarded!

Persona E2

Persona E3

Persona E4

Persona E5

Story

"My spouse was abruptly hospitalized due to illness, catching me off guard. With a previous family business failure and limited funds, hiring a long-term caregiver wasn't financially feasible, leading us to turn to the long-term care system."

"I struggled initially, feeling unprepared and clueless about caring for my spouse. Uncertain of their needs, I grappled with the challenges, feeling incapable and experiencing a poor mood."

Why must I return in this life to repay a debt owed in a past life? Who will care for me in old age?

In his later years, the husband's chronic illness left him physically disabled, and financial challenges prevent hospitalization. Sister Lixia, facing financial struggles, cares for him despite occasional disagreements, seeking understanding and warmth amidst exhaustion.

Strong, loves to complain, strong in action

Persona C1

Lisha

Persona C1

Lisha

Spouses in need of long-term care system

Background

62 years old

Elders' Biographies

Persona C2

Persona C6

Persona C3

Persona C7

Persona C4

Persona C8

Persona C5

Persona C9

Caregiver Profile

Service design co-creation activity:

At the conclusion of the project, invites were extended to designers and medical personnel to participate in a co-creation workshop. The workshop incorporated profiles of elderly patients and stakeholders from previous stages, serving as empathic tools to trigger resonance among participants. Attendees were also invited to explore and develop initial service design concepts for different combinations of elderly patients and caregivers. Throughout the process, the analysis of pain points of clinical staff from earlier stages was used as the foundation for workshop design propositions, allowing different departments to focus on issues they had already been concerned with, promoting in-depth ideation and discussion within the co-creation environment.