The publication gives a voice to the people involved in the study and aims to bring the findings and academic knowledge generated to life. It also aims to increase the awareness, acceptance and adoption of new practices and bring these approaches to a wider audience. 

”Collaborating with Design Science has enabled me to communicate key research findings clearly and professionally to different audiences. As a clinical leader, this resource and the presentation of my study‘s key messages would have been very challenging to see through to completion and achieve on my own.”

Alison Finch, cancer nurse and assistant chief nurse at UCLH

We worked with Alison to distil the essence of her PhD into an interactive document that included an introduction to her research and methods, more information about ambulatory care (AC) treatment and practice, the benefits of this type of care for patients and practitioners as well as guidance on how to set up an ambulatory care service.

The guide includes quotes and feedback from patients and highlights the freedom, trust and agency that this type of care gives to young people, whose lives are often turned upside down by their cancer diagnosis.

We spent time with Alison reflecting on her research. We highlighted the importance of ‘a sense of self’, ‘autonomy’ and ‘agency’ that patients are given, both through clear descriptive language and infographics and through the use of patient’s photographs which we used to highlight the different human qualities that ambulatory care supports. 

The guide also provides practical support for setting up an ambulatory care service including critical success factors, things to consider to get started, the need for a clinical safety net as well as practical tips and opportunities to include aspects of AC into many types of cancer treatment.

We used active co-design to help Alison communicate this important work and ensured that the final document could be read and understood by a wide range of stakeholders including patients, practitioners and charities. 

To help make the guide accessible we have also developed an online version that can be embedded into a range of websites as well as a downloadable version that can be printed or viewed online. 

See: NIHR feature

If you’d like to collaborate to share new approaches to care and health practice do get in touch.