Design Perspectives for the New Normal in the Healthcare System

This paper aims to investigate the current role of design in healthcare and reflect on its mandate in defining products, services, strategies, and policies, proposing perspectives toward a person-centred healthcare. Today, design research in healthcare reflects on scenarios and challenges affecting innovation and change, considering the potentially disruptive effect of technological innovation on personal care and social, economic, ethical, and political aspects. Through a literature review and case studies analysis, the paper focuses on the current criticalities of the healthcare system, exacerbated by the pandemic situation, and presents a first taxonomy of the trajectories for design-led intervention. It reflects on top-down actions proposed by the government, activities of co-design and the cross-fertilisation between design and other disciplines, and bottom-up actions of social innovation, to present near future perspectives for design-led actions in healthcare