phd project

My research project ‘Service Design for Health’ aims at investigating the role of Service Design in the re-design of Primary Care health services, by comparing its contribution within ‘Design in Practice’ (a research project about the new Practice Based Commissioning framework in England) and the Family Health Programmes in Brazil.
The strategy of the Brazilian government to structure its system of primary healthcare (Family Health Strategy - FHS) began as a program of care for families in 1994. This new model of healthcare was delivered through the implementation of multidisciplinary teams attending 40 hours per week. These teams, formed by family physician, nurse, nursing technicians, community health agents, are responsible for monitoring 1.000 families, located in a given geographical area. The teams develop health promotion actions for protection, prevention, recovery, rehabilitation of more frequent diseases and disorders, and in maintaining the health of this community. The main problems that affect Brazilians health are chronic diseases, cancer and also child malnutrition, family planning, and prenatal care.
The FHS has achieved good results, but they still face difficulties in: managing the daily activities of health maintenance with urgency care, engaging the inhabitants to change non-healthy behaviors into healthy ones, and changing attitudes about pregnancy and breastfeeding babies. FHS members showed interest in exploring what strategies and methods Service Design is using to support NHS transformation in its shift toward ‘community care’.

RESEARCH AIMS
- Understand the role, strategies and methods of Service Design in re-designing health services in Primary Care in UK;
- Evaluate the challenges and impact of a selection of service design projects at different levels: service provision, individuals, health organizations, communities and professionals;
- Compare the emerging design strategies and methods with the dominant paradigm of evidence-based design.