Rehabilitation centers in change: participatory methods for managing redesign and renovation

The aim of this article is to describe a set of participatory methods that we have either developed or modified for developing future work and service environments to better suit renewable rehabilitation processes. We discuss the methods in a larger framework of change process model and participatory design.

Rehabilitation organizations are currently in transition; customer groups, financing, services, and the processes of rehabilitation centers are changing. The pressure for change challenges the centers to develop both their processes and facilities. There is a need for methods that support change management.

Four participatory methods were developed: future workshop, change survey, multi-method assessment tool, and participatory design generator cards. They were tested and evaluated in three rehabilitation centers at the different phases of their change process.

The developed methods were considered useful in creating a mutual understanding of the change goals between different stakeholders, providing a good picture of the work community's attitudes toward the change, forming an integrated overview of the built and perceived environment, inspiring new solutions, and supporting the management in steering the change process.

The change process model described in this article serves as a practical framework that combined the viewpoints of organizational and facility development. However, participatory design continues to face challenges concerning communication between different stakeholders, and further development of the methods and processes is still needed. Intervention studies could provide data on the success factors that enhance the transformations in the rehabilitation sector.

Design process, methodology, organizational transformation, planning, renovation.