Practices of Participation and Co-Creation in Healthcare

Lessons Learned and Advancements of Established Methodologies

ECSCW 2024, Workshop 5

Tim Weiler (IT for the Ageing Society, University of Siegen, Germany), Babak A. Farshchian (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Sourav Bhattacharjee (IT for the Ageing Society, University of Siegen, Germany), Claudia Müller (IT for the Ageing Society, University of Siegen, Germany), Stefan Hochwarter (JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Austria)

Abstract

Participatory research in the healthcare sector is fraught with obstacles. In particular, choosing appropriate methods to involve the heterogeneous stakeholders in the healthcare system can be difficult. Not only are time constraints and hierarchies between professional (and non-professional) healthcare actors a challenge, but also dealing with patients who may have different physical and psychological limitations. Accordingly, not all qualitative methods are applicable to all stakeholder groups. Limitations such as impairments and low literacy levels can make it difficult to participate in focus groups or design workshops. In this workshop we will discuss experiences with participatory methods in the health sector and explore how established methods can be made more inclusive so that they can be adapted to a wide range of stakeholders.

Weiler, T., Farshchian, B., Bhattacharjee, S., Müller, C., Hochwarter, S. (2024): Practices of Participation and Co-Creation in Healthcare: Lessons Learned and Advancements of Established Methodologies. In: Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: The International Venue on Practice-centered Computing on the Design of Cooperation Technologies - Workshops Proposals, Reports of the European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (ISSN 2510-2591), DOI: 10.48340/ecscw2024_ws05

Further information can be found in the full workshop description.

Keynote and Position Papers

Presenter Title
Rob Procter Participatory Design Meets Responsible Research and Innovation
Deysi Ortega Roman Physical Factors that Influence Participation: Reflections from Co-design Workshops with Peruvian Low-resource Communities
Mikko Illi Working with Visual Metaphors Using Physical Artefacts in Group Meetings
Dennis Kirschsieper Idea development, decision-making and power imbalances in the co-creation process of two platforms for building Caring Communities
Hilda Tellioğlu Challenges in Participation of Vulnerable Groups in Design Processes
Hussain Abid Syed Challenges in Applying Participatory Approaches for Workplace Health Promotion Research in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Workshop Goals and Activities

The aim of this workshop was to highlight different challenges when using co-creation methods in healthcare, especially when working with heterogeneous groups like healthcare experts and patients with vulnerabilities. Therefore, we want to bring together a diverse group of researchers with experience in co-creation in healthcare, so that a discussion from different disciplines and perspectives is possible. In order to maximize interaction and networking between participants, the workshop will take place on site in Rimini for one full day. In addition to the on-site activities, we will invite a healthcare expert to join the session virtually. We expect the expert to have fruitful insights and to be an important factor in the discussion. The discussion points will be recorded and prepared in such a way that participants who are unable to attend will be able to benefit from the workshop. Upon receipt of acceptance, the workshop website will be published with all relevant information, including position papers and authors.

Organizers

Tim Weiler is a research associate at the University of Siegen, Germany. His research focuses on PD and Co-Creation in healthcare. Hybrid interaction systems for maintaining health even in exceptional situations are analyzed and a framework for co-creative methods is to be defined.

Babak Farshchian is an associate professor in software engineering. His research focuses on digitalization in service organizations, in particular within healthcare and social and welfare services, using interpretative qualitative research methods.

Sourav Bhattacharjee is a research associate at the University of Siegen, Germany. He studied master’s in Human-computer Interaction program at the University of Siegen in Germany and completed his bachelor's degree in Computer Science in Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science of Technology in Bangladesh. His research interests are in participatory health research and designing interactive systems for health promotion.

Claudia Müller is a Professor of Socio-Informatics, specializing in “IT for the ageing society” at the University of Siegen, Germany. Her expertise is PD with and for older adults, vulnerable user groups and local communities. She is a representative chairwoman of the commission of the Eighth Federal Government Report on Older People.

Stefan Hochwarter is a senior scientist at Joanneum Research HEALTH, Graz, Austria. His doctoral thesis at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology investigated a case on moving healthcare activities into homes. At his current position, his research focuses on digitalization and digital transformation of healthcare services, mainly in hospital settings.