Driving Change in Complex Social Systems: How to Design Healthcare Pathways

Abstract

How does change occur in healthcare settings? In this paper, we take a design-based approach to healthcare research. From researcher-patient interactions to information sharing between practitioners, we examine how clinical research can mediate a change of routines and illuminate potential new system structures. Using a hospital-based cognitive care clinic as an example, we demonstrate how the inclusion of new actors, tools and resources was able to shed light on the prevalence of hearing loss among mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and lay the framework for new care pathways.