A design primer for the domestication of health technologies

Abstract: As the population ages and places increasing pressures on health services there is widespread acceptance that we have to radically rethink how care is delivered. There is a growing body of research that focuses on telehealth to support self-care and a shift of traditional care from hospital to the home environ. This paper explores the culture and practice of health interventions that have previously resided within the domain of the hospital and the implications of this shift when they infiltrate the private space of the home. Research undertaken by the authors using a critical artefact methodology highlights collaborative approaches between design and health are critical to both understand these two disparate environments and that careful consideration is required when developing appropriate new landscapes and paradigms for care. This presents opportunity for design both in developing solutions but also within creative research approaches to understand the complexity of the challenges.