Patient Education in Orthopedics: the Role of Information Design and User Experience

This narrative review will focus on concepts and methods of Information Design and User Experience for patient education in orthopedics, with osteoarthritis as an application example.

Information design can make complex health information clear according to the needs of the patients. Digital health presents new opportunities to design scalable educational interventions and may be improved with User Experience Design. Human-centered design methods such as user research, co-design, and prototype testing are being applied in orthopedics to achieve patient-centered care. Current international guidelines on osteoarthritis put patient education as one of the key care strategies. Educational interventions target preoperative education and osteoarthritis self-management, but current models could be enhanced. Patient education and health literacy are fundamental to face the burden of musculoskeletal pain. The collaboration between design and health is essential to deal with the demand for education, behavioral, and social change.