When care is moving in – participatory approaches to elicit needs and desires when healthcare has become a natural part of your daily life

This chapter departs from two research projects to present the learnings, methodological challenges, and recommendations when involving users in participatory approaches of design research in home care. In the first project, older participants collected data through solicited diaries and photo elicitation, reflecting about their use of multiple medications and difficulties experienced with medication packaging design. The second project aimed at designing equipment for home healthcare to increase quality of care without turning the home into a hospital. From observations and interviews, prototypes were designed and evaluated in participation with both residents and personnel. Both projects actively involved participants in data collection and validation, letting the participants reflect on their own capabilities and how the design of healthcare products reinforced design exclusion in daily life. The participatory approaches that were used differed from previous research in which older people were usually displaced of their context of living and merely acting as testing participants for alternative designs. The use of participatory methods to collect and validate data with older people and their supportive network can help to design healthcare products that fit with real user needs and that contribute to promote good health and well-being.