Safeguarding Drug Therapy
Improving patient safety and well-being through a holistic approach.
Drug Therapy for Elderly Patients
As we age, managing our health becomes increasingly complex, especially when we face multiple illnesses and conditions. Many rely on drug therapy to manage their health, which can be challenging and overwhelming. For elderly patients, this complexity is further compounded by the involvement of numerous stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, family members, and community services. The challenge is to ensure that the patient’s safety and well-being are not compromised in the process, which requires a holistic approach to the design of drug therapy systems. In this article, we explore our university project on safeguarding drug therapy for elderly patients and improving patient safety and well-being with a holistic approach to drug therapy.
Design Brief
We recognize that the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders involved in the patient’s care are critical for developing digital interfaces and systems that can effectively support drug therapy activities and improve the overall quality of care. Our brief asks,
“How can we support drug therapy activities for patients, their relatives, and healthcare professionals?”
By exploring this question, we hope to contribute to developing a more patient-centered and holistic approach to drug therapy.
Final Case Studies
Field Trip to Stockholm
At the beginning of the project, our class took a field trip to Stockholm, where we had the opportunity to meet project partners and conduct ethnographic field research. Our field research allowed us to see first-hand the complexities of the healthcare system and the importance of maintaining a human connection between healthcare providers and their patients.
We could follow nurses and doctors on their everyday tasks. Observing nurses performing their daily rounds to see patients in their homes and carrying out medical tasks such as administering medication, caring for wounds, and monitoring vital signs. Being part of doctors discussing treatments with their patients about the best way to continue with their medication. Tagging along ambulance staff members when admitting patients and caring for them in emergency cases.
We visited the following institutions:
Healthcare Centre — Torsvik Lidingö Vårdcentral
Local healthcare centres are the first points of contact for accessing healthcare services. They offer a wide range of medical services, including treatment, rehabilitation, nursing care, and preventative health services. The healthcare professionals working in these settings have diverse areas of expertise, from primary care physicians to specialists, to provide comprehensive and integrated care.
Home Healthcare — Torsvik Lidingö Vårdcentral and Trångsunds Vårdcentral
Home health care is a service for individuals who, for medical reasons or due to a disability, cannot visit a health centre on their own. Home health care involves providing care and treatment at home, which may include medical interventions such as administering insulin, dispensing medication, or collecting samples. To ensure safety and security, home health care works closely with home care services.
Advanced Home Healthcare Center — ASiH AccessCare
Palliative care and advanced medical care in the home, treats patients of all ages dealing with multiple diagnoses or serious chronic diseases. The goal is to provide holistic care, addressing the patient’s physical, mental, social and existential needs, to achieve the best possible quality of life.
Geriatric Clinic — Sabbatsberg Närsjukhuset & Aleris Dalengeriatiken
Geriatrics is a specialised field of healthcare that focuses on the ageing process and its associated diseases. Geriatric clinics provide outpatient and inpatient care to individuals aged above 65, including investigation, treatment, and rehabilitation. Medical advancements have led to longer lifespans and increased demand for geriatric care to address the unique health needs of the elderly.
Emergency Room — Södersjukhuset
Emergency hospitals provide specialised emergency and planned medical care services. Their emergency rooms cater to injuries and illnesses that require immediate attention, and are open every day to receive patients of all ages.
Co-Creation Workshop
Our field research highlighted the importance of understanding the unique needs and perspectives of all stakeholders involved in drug therapy. This includes patients, healthcare professionals, and family members. By creating three different personas of patients and mapping out their journeys through the healthcare system, we identified areas for improvement and ways to better incorporate the human element into digital interfaces and methods.
By mapping out the individual journeys of our created personas, we invited the groups of healthcare professionals & designers to take part in a tangible way of interacting with the system by creating a story around their everyday tasks. We provided the room with different visual cutouts, figures, and pen & paper. Their first task was to make their persona’s “normal” journey in the present day. In the next step, they had to identify areas of opportunity and answer the question “what if…” to spark creativity in improving this situation. Together they created a tangible future scenario and recorded a low-fidelity video to communicate their idea.
Through this research, we aim to develop a more patient-centered approach to drug therapy that prioritizes the safety and well-being of elderly patients while maintaining a human connection between healthcare providers and their patients.
