Application and evolution of design in oral health: A systematic mapping study with an interactive evidence map

OBJECTIVES

There is increasing recognition of the value and capabilities of design in healthcare. Beyond the development of medical devices, design is increasingly being applied to intangible, complex and systemic healthcare problems. However, there is limited evidence on the use of design specifically in the field of oral health. This systematic mapping study aims to collate and catalogue evidence of design in oral health.

METHODS

A systematic search of academic databases and grey literature was performed. Duplicate results were removed, and publications relating to the same project were grouped. Reviewers from design and oral health independently screened a sample of the dataset. Projects of both relevance to oral health, and with input from a designer or clear implementation of a design methodology or approach were included. Projects were coded and plotted on a novel interactive evidence map.

RESULTS

119 design and oral health projects were included between 1973 and 2022. Interventional (n = 94, 79%), empirical (n = 46, 39%), methodological (n = 35, 29%) and theoretical (n = 7, 6%) design contributions were identified across the projects. The projects were categorized by four orders of design: first-graphics (n = 6, 5%), second-products (n = 41, 34%), third-interactions (n = 70, 59%), and fourth-systems (n = 2, 2%). Design was found in a diverse range of contexts in oral health; most commonly being relevant to general patients (n = 61, 51%), and for use in general dental practice (n = 56, 47%). Further design outcome categories (digital material; printed material; object; room or space; apparel; process; smart device; tangible interface; graphical interface; virtual reality; service; policy; system) and oral health themes (oral health literacy; oral care training; dental clinic design; dental instruments and equipment; personal oral care; dental appliance; clinician health and productivity; clinical information systems; informed consent; oral health promotion and prevention; oral care training; patient interactions and experience) were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

The novel interactive evidence map of design in oral health created enables ongoing and open-ended multivariant documentation and analysis of the evidence, as well as identification of strategic opportunities. Future research and policy implications include; recognition and engagement with the full capabilities of design; integration of design experts; fostering inclusive engagement and collaboration; disentangling patient and public involvement; advancing human-centred systems approaches; adopting design-led approaches for policy-making.

Child-centred framing through design research: a framework for analysing children's 'dream wheelchair' designs to elicit meaning and elevate their voice

PURPOSE

This paper considers the possibilities of analysing children's own designs to contribute to the design of inclusive paediatric mobility interventions. The aim of this paper is threefold: (1) to develop a framework for child-centred design analysis, (2) to analyse children's designs to explore both quantitative and qualitative insights and (3) to explore how children's voice could be elevated through design research.

METHODS

A Child-centred Design Analysis Framework is developed in an interdisciplinary manner, comprising four dimensions including Child, Content, Context and Format. It is used as a vehicle to analyse and code 130 "Dream Wheelchair" designs by children.

RESULTS

The children's "Dream Wheelchair" designs reference a range of features and priorities, which are gathered into themes through the framework, providing insights into children's individual and collective mobility narratives, values and requirements. Themes are explored through a qualitative interdisciplinary lens to understand the nature of children's lived experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

The framework promotes child-centred framing through extracting meaning from children's own designs. It is suggested that child-centred framing and a rights-respecting approach to assistive technology design research can lead to more appropriate design outcomes and improved user experiences for children with disabilities. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILIATIONThe design analysis framework developed and presented in this paper facilitates child-centred framing to elevate children's voice in a design process.Analysis of 130 children's visual and textual designs elicited narratives, values, and requirements around their "Dream Wheelchairs"; these findings contribute insights which can be used for designing inclusive paediatric mobility interventions.This paper invites industry practitioners and design researchers to use a child-centred and rights-respecting approach when designing with or for children.

Beyond Accessible Mobility: Insights into Psychosocial Inclusivity Dimensions in Personal Transport

The importance of psychosocial aspects has been gradually recognised in the field of inclusive design. A critical review of existing literature, however, such as design, healthcare, psychology, and sociology, on psychosocial aspects of inclusivity identifies a two-fold research gap which is a limited understanding of both definition and dimensions of psychosocial inclusivity in the field of inclusive design. Such concept of psychosocial inclusivity is an inherently context-dependent and multi-faceted concept. Accordingly, a 'personal mobility' was focused on in this paper as one key context to explore psychosocial inclusivity to facilitate thorough and in-depth study of this concept. In this study, therefore, the interviews with 37 mobility-challenged participants were performed, and then the interview data was analysed by using a coding analyses to identify key psychosocial factors of inclusive design based on participants' lived-experiences.

A Conceptual Framework for Inclusive Digital Storytelling to Increase Diversity and Motivation for Cultural Tourism in Thailand

Cultural tourism is considered to be a niche market and little attention has been paid to it, as compared with mass tourism. Moreover, visitors have little motivation to visit actual historical sites and read the story displayed behind the exhibitions. These issues highlight a good opportunity to increase further potential extended tourism and increase the motivation of visitors. To broaden and increase the potential market, this study applies inclusive design principles as 'understanding and designing for diversity' and presents reports on the first study. To increase the motivation of tourists, this study adopts digital storytelling as 'the guideline to increase motivation' and illustrates this in the second study.

Designing for designers: insights into the knowledge users of inclusive design

Over the last twenty years, research on inclusive design has delivered a wealth of publications and initiatives, forming an emerging knowledge base for inclusive design. The inclusive design knowledge base breaks down into two discrete areas - understanding end users from many different perspectives, and understanding the information needs of the knowledge users (e.g. designers) who are involved in promoting and delivering inclusive design solutions. Much research has focused on the end users, but in recent years, understanding the needs and the characteristics of knowledge users has added a new dimension to the research task. This paper focuses on the knowledge users of inclusive design. It discusses the different types of knowledge users and their knowledge needs. The research programmes undertaken by the Inclusive Design Research Group (IDRG) are used to illustrate the process of understanding knowledge needs of designers, developing different types of tools to meet those needs and evaluating their effectiveness. The paper concludes with a discussion on how to adopt an inclusive design research methodology to effectively engage the knowledge users in the development of inclusive design tools.