Using a human-centered design approach for collaborative decision-making in pediatric asthma care.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Healthcare
• Design Thinking
• Health Outcomes Research

Background:

• Human-centered design (HCD) is a qualitative methodology focused on end-user empathy to create practical interventions.
• Improving pediatric asthma healthcare outcomes requires understanding patient and caregiver needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the utility of HCD in enhancing pediatric asthma healthcare outcomes.
• To identify patient and caregiver preferences for asthma support within an urban academic setting.

Main Methods:

• Employed ethnographic-style observations across diverse stakeholders including healthcare providers, community activists, public health officials, and families with asthmatic children.
• Conducted multistakeholder brainstorming sessions to develop prototypes based on observed user experiences.
• Performed low-fidelity field testing on three distinct prototypes.

Main Results:

• Developed a visual decision-making aid to understand caregivers' preferred asthma support systems.
• Created a child-oriented activity sheet to improve communication regarding asthma care impact.
• Designed visual prompts to enhance empathetic dialogue between providers, caregivers, and pediatric patients.

Conclusions:

• Involving diverse stakeholders in disease management through design thinking generates community-supported, relevant solutions.
• Prototypes are undergoing iterative field testing in community and academic asthma care settings.