Tulane researchers analyze design thinking in global health

Photo: Paula Burch-Celentano.

By: Mary Johns.

When a GE designer learned pediatric patients were often frightened by MRI scans, he transformed the experience into an adventure. With a touch of imagination, paint and special effects, the machines morphed into submarines or spaceships ready to transport patients to an alternate world.

This story is one of many involving the growing trend of using design thinking, a human-centered approach, to develop innovations in health. A Tulane University study, published in the Public Library of Science journal, is the first comprehensive review of this movement, analyzing human-centered design outcomes in the field.

“We took an evidence based approach to understanding the use of design thinking in health,” said Alessandra Bazzano, social entrepreneurship professor at the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking and faculty member at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Read the full article here, courtesy of NewWave.