Reimagine Design Lab: A PFA Co-design Program

Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs) are essential to the design and development of new strategies for improving experiences. In this case study, PFAs were integrated into the hospital’s experience design team. This project sought to achieve the following:

1. Include patient and family participation on all patient experience design projects.
2. Follow the design-thinking process for full collaboration of all stakeholders in creative problem-solving.
3. Foster an inclusive culture that enables team members to understand and value the contributions of all participants.
4. Break barriers to accepting patient and family participation by developing a framework with PFAs to include patients and families from the community on short-term co-design projects.

Staci Brooks, Experience Catalyst, ECU Health
Dorothea S. Handron EdD, APRN | Associate Professor Emerita, East Carolina University College of Nursing | Patient/Family Advisor, ECU Health
Tammy Thompson, EdD, CPXP, NCARB, EDAC | Director of Experience Engagement, Education & Design, ECU Health