Innovation workshop using design thinking framework and involving stakeholders to co-create ideas for management of asthma

This paper described the use of photovoice within design thinking to empathise with patients’ challenges and co-create ideas on asthma management in Singapore. A one-day workshop was organised and conducted in Singapore by SingHealth Polyclinics to discuss the challenges and enablers of good asthma care and ideate innovations to address the issues discussed. The workshop was conceptualised based on the Stanford’s d: school Design Thinking Process: 1. empathise, 2. define, 3. ideate, 4. prototype, and 5. test, focussing on the first three stages. Empathise stage was executed by having two patients share their challenges and enablers of good asthma care using photovoice. Define and ideate stage were accomplished through the multidisciplinary team discussion, with the patient going to every group to allow them to seek clarifications and opinions on ideas. The study findings were summarised based on the Empathise, Define and Ideate stages. Thirty-seven healthcare providers attended—9 doctors, 14 nurses, 4 pharmacists, 3 clinical service, 3 medical students and 4 research staff. Participants’ feedback was collected via an online feedback form to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovation workshop. More than 90% of participants strongly agreed or agreed that they could generate ideas to improving asthma care, the workshop helped drive innovation, and the use of photovoice helped them empathise with patients challenges. A design thinking framework can be used for innovation workshops. Photovoice is a useful method for understanding the problems faced by patients. A multidisciplinary team format with patient involvement was highly favoured.