Abstract for: Overcoming Accidental Adversaries in Healthcare through a Design Canvas

It is well established that systems thinking (ST) is highly applicable to support the improvement of the quality and provision of healthcare. However, there are many barriers for establishing meaningful interventions in health systems, such as overcoming the existing structures and managing a diverse range of specialist expertise. Design canvases—templated worksheets designed for participant collaboration—have been shown to help facilitate communication and discussion in fields such as prototyping, innovation and business entrepreneurship. This paper outlines a work-in-progress process for intervening with a customised design canvas to develop systems thinking capability in a health system. It describes a method for creating a design canvas relevant to the healthcare sector, with a particular focus on improving service delivery between two units in a hospital setting. This methodology shows potential for involving participants in a workshop based on ST principles, without the conceptual overheads of learning about ST modelling conventions. Initial results suggest that this approach can help units who have fallen into an accidental adversary archetype of behaviour co-design collaborations for overcoming this dynamic.