At The Inclusionaries Lab we apply advanced inclusive and human-centred design principles, mindsets, and processes to help develop effective healthcare products, and services; improve health outcomes; and prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Our work ranges from human-centred design of effective healthcare products for the NHS (DBO Commode for hospital wards, funded by Department of Health and Design Council); reimagining legacy in the context of paediatric palliative care (funded by Hugh Greenwood Legacy for Children’s Health Research); and humanising population health information for empathic and informed decision making.
One latest research project funded by Doctoral Training Network in Technologies for Healthy Ageing, focuses on conceptualising and adopting a Critical Inclusive Design approach for future oral health. An interactive evidence map of design in oral health, created through a systematic mapping study, provides a robust foundation for the project. Responding to limitations of Inclusive Design and the emerging and expanding contexts of design, the research conceptualises Critical Inclusive Design and contextualises this through a study of ‘extreme users’ in oral health systems. A framework of Critical Inclusive Design, the interactive map, and the study of ‘extreme users’ will inform agenda setting workshops for inclusion oral health policies in North West England.
The Inclusionaries Lab is interested in interdisciplinary education and transdisciplinary application of Design within healthcare and is currently leading a ground-breaking design education initiative at the School of Medicine at The University of Liverpool. The aim is to embed design within healthcare education, at the right time, and the right level. Kicked off in 2019-20, Design became part of core curriculum in MBChB Medicine and Surgery course and all 300+ Year 3 students learning about human-centred design through attending a set of curated Design lectures and workshops.
Our trajectory of publications in this area could be accessed here.
The Inclusionaries Lab 