“Public health interventions designed through a human-centred lens are more likely to be adopted, used, and sustained by the communities they aim to serve” – Dr. Sarah Jones
HCD: Co-creating Public Health Innovations.
Public health innovations strive for one ultimate goal: improving the health and well-being of people. They aim to address unmet needs, particularly among vulnerable populations, by creating new and improved ways of tackling health challenges.
Despite numerous advancements, some public health problems remain persistent. Some of these include Maternal mortality, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria which continue to plague communities around the world. But why? A closer look reveals a crucial factor: these challenges are deeply rooted in human behaviour and interaction through their health-seeking behaviour, cultural/religious beliefs and even the transmission of diseases through human interactions.
This is where Human-Centered Design (HCD) comes in. It’s a powerful methodology that shifts the focus from generic solutions to understanding the unique perspectives and needs of the people most affected by public health issues.
Human-centred design (HCD) is a creative and iterative approach to participatory problem-solving. This approach places people at the center of the product, service, and program development; to design new solutions that are tailor-made to suit their needs. The HCD approach ensures all major stakeholders play a role in developing the potential solutions, leading to a higher likelihood of finding the right solution for a long-lasting impact. HCD offers many benefits such as better outcomes, improved processes, expanded capabilities, and increased equity.
Imagine designing a public health campaign without talking to the very people it’s meant to help. HCD bridges this gap by:
- Prioritising Empathy: Understanding the lived experiences, challenges, and aspirations of the target population.
- Engaging Stakeholders: Involving healthcare workers, community leaders, and policymakers in the design process.
- Co-Creating Solutions: Working collaboratively to develop interventions that are culturally relevant, accessible, and truly address the root causes of health problems.
The human-centered design process typically comprises 4 phases namely; Discovery, Understand, Create, and implementation.
- Discovery Phase: Collating existing knowledge relating to the topic, and identify additional primary research to complement it.
- Understand Phase: Analyzing and synthesising the research allows us to gain new insights and highlight key opportunities to make an impact
- Create phase: inspired by the research, we want to explore potential solutions and to test prototypes with the people who will use them.
- Implementation Phase: At this stage, our solution is brought to life and we are ready to Roll out the final solution
The HCD approach gives us the transformative power where healthcare solutions are designed not just by experts, but by the people who need them the most. HCD isn’t just another fancy buzzword. It’s a proven methodology with a track record of success globally tackling various healthcare problems.
HCD can help us understand the specific challenges of the healthcare system that people face, such as accessing care, designing solutions that truly resonate with their needs, and ultimately creating a healthcare system that works for them.
In the last decade, Co-creation Hub through its Design for Health Practice and in collaboration with other stakeholders has utilised the HCD approach to design and implement innovations, contributing to the resolution of some long-term problems in African healthcare. Notable examples include;
- Tuberculosis (TB) Treatment Adherence: The Nigeran Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in collaboration with the Co-creation hub applied the human-centred design approach to develop a digital tool, the NimCure app, to enhance the adherence of tuberculosis (TB) patients to treatment and also address some issues around stigmatisation of TB patients. The NimCure app connects patients with caregivers who support and manage their treatment remotely using video Direct Observed Therapy (vDOT). On this app, patients can also track their treatment progress, receive reminders, and get the contact details of their caregivers. Pilot research shows a significant increase in adherence especially among adolescents using the NimCure app.
- COVID-19 Testing: In a bid to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Nigeria and also support the national strategy to expand testing capacities, the Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) in collaboration with the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) developed a digital COVID Data Management System to support the process of testing suspected COVID-19 cases; from case reporting, through triaging, and communication of test results. This system helped simplify the testing process. It identified and prioritised high-risk cases for testing and communicated the test results for each case.
- Health Supply Chain: The Design Lab and Design for Health Practice at Co-creation Hub also applied the human-centred design approach to understand the complexities across the pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa, specifically Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa by eliciting information on the existing drug value chain and co-creating contextually relevant solutions. The solutions were tested to improve data sharing and visibility between private and public sector providers for more accurate health reporting, as well as enhance the ability of drug providers to deliver better services at the frontline to healthcare users.
- Maternal and child health: A consortium-based project comprising of Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Solina Centre for International Development and Research (SCIDaR), and Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) applied the human-centred design approach to understand the perspectives of all relevant stakeholders regarding the causes of maternal deaths due to Post Partum Haemorrhage (PPH). The project cocreated suitable innovative and context-specific solutions to address the identified challenges.
- Health System Strengthening: The MIT/GOVLAB, Gatefield in collaboration with the Co-creation HUB leveraged the application of human-centred design to co-create governance innovation targeted at improving service delivery in the healthcare sector as well as promoting new patterns of responsibility in the healthcare system of Ekiti State Government. The HCD approach was aimed at addressing critical areas of need in healthcare service delivery, enhancing government responsiveness, and encouraging changes in individual and collective behaviour that can ensure better health outcomes for the populace in Ekiti State.
Public health challenges can be very complex and are usually one of the most important issues in any society. Viewing these challenges through a human-centred design lens can help identify new and impactful ways to address them.
Design for Health Practice at Co-creation Hub champions the utilisation of the HCD approach in health innovations, research, program design, and delivery. The practice also provides capacity-building support to health stakeholders to advance HCD application for improved health outcomes in Africa.
We encourage all stakeholders to leverage the power of HCD in building a healthcare system that truly serves the needs of all.
If you would like to learn more about our HCD-related projects, participate in HCD Bootcamps, training and fellowship or collaborate with the Design for Health Practice, kindly contact us by email via publichealth@cchub.africa.
Meet the team:
Adefemi Adewemimo is a Programme Manager at the Design for Health Practice of the Co-creation HUB. He is dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through the transformative power of technology, innovation and Human Centered Design to address various critical public challenges across the continent.
He has a passion for Social Impact and Digital Health and he is currently working on projects with a focus on healthcare and sustainable development in Africa using technology, innovation, and Human Centred Design.
Adefemi has prior experience providing advisory services to health innovations in Africa.
He has collaborated with partners in the public and private sectors to use a design-centred approach to co-create relevant healthcare solutions, managing projects around emerging infectious diseases, health system strengthening, digital epidemiology, supply chain, maternal child health, and sexual and reproductive health-related projects.
REFERENCES
Discover Phase
- Acumen Academy. 2021. Introduction to Human-Centered Design. [online] Available at: <https://www.acumenacademy.org/course/design-kit-human-centered-design>
- Designkit.org. 2021. Case Study. [online] Available at: <https://www.designkit.org/case-studies/5>
- Designkit.org. 2021. Find Themes. [online] Available at: <https://www.designkit.org/methods/find-themes>
Understand Phase
- Designkit.org. 2021. Design Kit. [online] Available at: <https://www.designkit.org/methods/frame-your-design-challenge>
Create Phase
- Acumen Academy. 2021. Introduction to Human-Centered Design. [online] Available at: <https://www.acumenacademy.org/course/design-kit-human-centered-design>
Implement Phase
- Acumen Academy. 2021. Introduction to Human-Centered Design. [online] Available at: <https://www.acumenacademy.org/course/design-kit-human-centered-design>
