Innovative approaches and tools developed by researchers in the School of Design at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) working within multi-disciplinary healthcare research teams demonstrate the opportunities for greater patient-centred treatment, and for enhancing patient-professional relationships and healthcare expertise. The work of Macdonald’s research group in this field has been supported since 2002 by RCUK-funded healthcare- and ageing-related grants. Over this period, their programme of integrated people-centred, participative co-design and development has been used to: i) create new tools and methods for healthcare research; ii) embody these approaches in the design of multidisciplinary healthcare-research studies; iii) use these to yield new insights and knowledge; and iv) use study findings as the basis for proposing improvements to healthcare services delivery and professional practice. The collaborative approach enables a process of ‘co-designing’ services where all stakeholders involved in providing; delivering and receiving the healthcare services are able to contribute with their particular expertise, and from their own experiences, whether professional, clinical or lay. This paper presents insights and findings from three case studies, each of which has involved multi-disciplinary expertise including healthcare professionals, patients or their representative groups, clincians and NHS trusts, to illustrate the approach of introducing and integrating qualitative and collaborative design methods to complement current clinical approaches and practices: i) the development of ‘envisage’ visualisation tools to assist in physical rehabilitation following stroke, resulting in improved patient understanding, patient-professional communication and a more objective understanding of patient progress; ii) the development of a prototype ‘hospitalfoodie’ system for nutrition management and monitoring in the older adult hospital population which provides a tailored food service able to meet individuals’ daily nutritional targets; and iii) the exploration of experience-based approaches for spinal cord injury survivors to develop improved resourcefulness and self-reliance over the course of their rehabilitation trajectory.

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