Can digital methods facilitate employees and patients to co-create new healthcare services? This is what researchers at CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University, will investigate in a new research project. Together with the County Council of Värmland and CGI, they will develop and test a digital method for patient involvement in healthcare. The two-year project is financed by Vinnova.
In the new project, researchers at CTF will develop and test a digital method that will give patients and employees the opportunity to co-develop innovative ideas related to healthcare through a digital platform.
"We will investigate the effects of using a digital platform instead of physical meetings when conducting innovative group work and compare how innovation groups in the physical and the digital space differ", says Jessica Westman, Post doctor in psychology at CTF.
The project builds upon a previous project where researchers at CTF developed a method for patient involvement in health care. The method captured and developed ideas from patients and healthcare employees through innovation groups. In the new project, the method is taken one step further by becoming digital.
"Previous research shows that the best innovations usually come from the users. It is important to involve and focus on the users, in this case patients and healthcare employees, in developing new health services to ensure that the results support their specific needs. A digital format is not only cost-effective, but also facilitates patients and healthcare employees who, for various reasons, have difficulties to attend the physical meeting", Jessica Westman concludes.
The research project "A Virtual Innovation Group Method for Designing Patient Centered Healthcare Services" is funded by Vinnova during the period 2018-2020. The project is run by researchers Jessica Westman and Jakob Trischler in cooperation with the County Council of Värmland and CGI. The project also includes CTF-researchers Peter Magnusson and Lars E. Olsson.
