Developing Practice Guidelines for Interprofessional Educational Collaboration between Design and Healthcare Fields

Abstract

Designing effective assistive technology (AT) requires knowledge of materials, design methodology, and user needs.Creating AT supporting daily tasks benefits from collaboration with Occupation Therapy, yet this is not a professionalnorm. To address AT design challenges and promote future professional collaboration, Thomas Jefferson Universitydeveloped an interprofessional education (IPE) co-design program for Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) andMasters of Industrial Design (MSID) students. Using experiential learning modules, students co-create assistive devicesfor individuals living with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), a rare genetic disorder causing progressiveimmobility. Students experience real-world contexts and collect ongoing data; FOP user-experts participate in thedesign process via standardized interviews and structured feedback recorded during device user-testing sessions.Here, we present our in-progress approach to creating evidence-based practice guidelines for future collaborationsbetween healthcare professionals and designers based on an IPE collaboration. This IPE program offers insight intohow to structure effective interdisciplinary programs and implement co-design methodology.