Five Qualitative Research Concepts Grounded in Anthropological Methods for Teaching Design in Healthcare

Biomedical engineering, engineering, and design in health programs around the world have involved human-centered design as part of their undergraduate curriculum. The disparities evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid developments of biotech startups have highlighted the importance of preparing professionals in the health areas for undertaking rigorous, empathetic, and ethical research. In addition to working with human-driven information, students in the health areas are challenged to deal with technical developments that involve legal and ethical concerns deeply rooted in sociopolitical issues and human rights. Concerned with how to achieve a better understanding of behavior in designing for healthcare, this article describes the rationale behind teaching qualitative research in healthcare for biomedical engineering and engineering design education. Through portraying different healthcare designs resulting from an engineering design course, it describes the instruction of qualitative-driven concepts taught to biomedical engineering, design, and premed undergraduate students. Using a design-based research approach, we look to increase the chances of adoption of the presented qualitative research concepts in educational design in health programs. We deliver five tested research tools that better prepare students to carry out more rigorous, respectful, and aware qualitative research in health areas for the development of novel solutions.