Beyond the healthcare paradigm: Co-creating a new model for collaborative transdisciplinary healthcare design education

Abstract

Although healthcare has long been a focus for design research dating from the 1960’s and Bruce Archer’s Industrial Design (Engineering) research unit, there remain very few academic programmes in the field of healthcare design and even fewer that go beyond classic user driven models. This paper reports on a unique collaboration between the Royal College of Art and Imperial College in London to develop an innovative partnership and programme structure between two diverse collaborating institutions. Moreover, the partnership has shown how new design and healthcare research methods have been used for innovative practice-based healthcare design projects. We reflect on the diverse skill sets and approaches that have evolved through collaborative teamwork between healthcare practitioners, designers and diverse disciplinary backgrounds. Our conclusions illustrate how a context driven programme provides evidence of a new ‘post-disciplinary’ mindset and explores implications for research and practice for the future of healthcare design.