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How to fight back: design thinking to reshape healthcare

WednesdayJuly 1st3:00 - 4:00224 / 225 M

Ikbal Humay ARMAN and Rita ABECASIS

Primary care across Europe is under strain with staff shortages, bureaucracy, burnout and growing expectations for patient centered care. Traditional structures often feel rigid for teams and confusing for patients. Professionals on the front line need practical tools to rethink how work is organised and how care flows across services.List concrete organizational pain points in their own setting related to workforce, bureaucracy or continuity of care. Use a simple design thinking framework to turn one of these pain points into a clear problem statement that patients and professionals would recognize. Generate and prioritise at least five ideas for improving talent attraction or retention, work environment or work life balance in primary care. Build a short pitch that describes one solution concept, its intended users, the first small test to try in practice and one basic measure of success.The session starts with a brief and playful introduction to design thinking in health care using examples from across different industries. Participants then move into small groups and work with a structured canvas. Each group focuses on a challenge such as recruitment and retention, workload and bureaucracy, team climate or continuity of care. Groups create one solution concept and outline a first small test. Opening, context and design thinking basics (10 minutes). Group work phase one: understand and define (10 minutes). Group work phase two: generate and select ideas (15 minutes). Group work phase three: outline a simple prototype or first test (10 minutes). Final pitch session 15 minutes where each team presents a short pitch of their concept followed by brief feedback from peers.Participants leave with concrete ideas and first step plans for their own settings plus a design thinking template to reuse with colleagues and patient partners. The pitch format supports ownership and shared purpose around making primary care a place where professionals want to work and patients feel heard.This workshop helps primary care teams step out of survival mode, think together and reclaim the design of their services.