Listening to Patients and Talking to Doctors: A Case for Design in Medicine, & A Call to Action

Abstract

This paper describes how design can work at a fundamental level to improve health in the United States. It argues for a design application that levels the playing field between the doctor and the patient in a way that re-establishes the person as the center of medical advancement. It uses the inclusion of a design research oriented Patient Engagement Core within a current study at the Indiana University School of Medicine as a way to demonstrate the relevance of design to health research. We touch upon the research environment established by the National Institutes of Health as a driver for the relevance of design in medicine, and finally, we suggest that designers use their visual communication and design research skills within health research to increase its relevancy to patients and the population, and ‘make the science stick’ through better understanding of patient perspectives. We assert that by entering discourse in health at this foundational stage we contribute to a new understanding of what health is, who might contribute to its improvement, who determines the relevancy of research, and how such research is used.