health and social care case studies
Experience Based Design
A patient-led NHS is easy to say but hard to do. thinkpublic brought together the best approaches from design and combined them with cutting-edge thinking in innovation. We put the ideas and aspirations of policy-makers into practice at the frontline.
YouCanKingston: Engaging local communities to improve health
Kingston Primary Care Trust asked thinkpublic to carry out an engagement project in the Cambridge Road Estates. The PCT planned to redevelop Hawks Road Clinic and wanted a picture of local health and quality of life problems.
Ambulatory Emergency Care: co-designing patient experience
thinkpublic worked with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to design, develop and prototype patient experience touch points, for the new NHS Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC) service.
Caring Times: co-designing the resident experience in Care Homes
The NHS Institute commissioned thinkpublic to help improve the resident and staff experience as part of its National Care Home Improvement Programme
Just a Routine Operation: Using the power of film to help improve operating theatre safety
Just a routine operation is a short documentary film produced by thinkpublic that explores human behaviours and experiences of operating theatre safety.
Relative Friends: Helping people create family like relationships
We have developed Relative Friends a new social venture that helps people build family-like relationships with people in their local area.
Clinic to Go: Toolkits for community clinics
Working with staff from Birmingham North and East NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT), thinkpublic developed a new method for increasing localised health care. The output from the project was a ‘Clinic to Go’ toolbox, a portable kit containing all the information required to set up a community clinic.
Active Oswestry: Creative engagement tools for social challenges
thinkpublic’s Active Oswestry project used bespoke engagement tools to get local people involved in unlocking opportunities for a more active community. Our project showed why people are as active, or inactive, as they are and resulted in 10 recommendations for Shropshire Council to take forward for a more active society.
government and policy case studies
Online Public Services Manifesto
As we accelerate towards a world of public services that are “digital by default”, will consumer needs, hopes and expectations be met?
Fear of Crime: Using design to uncover fears of crime
In the London Borough of Barnet, the council looked to understand how one ward within the borough had a disproportionately high fear of crime compared to actual crime rates. thinkpublic was commissioned to bring innovative design-led research tools to uncover the reasons behind fear of crime.
Us Now: A documentary about mass collaboration, government and the internet
Social documentary Us Now is a ground-breaking film exploring the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet. The film was directed by thinkpublic’s Ivo Gormley and has been shown to the UK Houses of Parliament, European Union, French National Assembly, US Government and the Dutch Government.
civil society case studies
Alzheimer100: Co-designing the future of dementia care
Alzheimer100 was a project in the national design innovation programme Dott 07. thinkpublic was invited to work with the Alzheimer’s Society to investigate methods for improving the everyday lives of people with dementia, their carers and service providers.
Age Unlimited: Prototyping for impact
thinkpublic worked with endowment body NESTA to develop social enterprises that address the issue of the ageing population.
Pitch your Project: Connecting with communities for better engagement
Journeys to Health was a collaborative initiative founded in 2007 by thinkpublic and UK volunteering charity TimeBank. Its vision was to design innovative volunteering opportunities in the UK health sector. By using a familiar format of a popular television programme, thinkpublic helped the NHS, councils and local communities jump-start meaningful and productive conversations.
Filmed ethnography in Barking and Dagenham
thinkpublic worked with Barking and Dagenham Borough Council to find out how people really experienced their services using filmed ethnography. The resulting film showed how services affect people’s lives and redefined the Council’s improvement priorities.
Playmakers: the future of play in public space
thinkpublic produced Playmakers, a documentary about the future of play in public space. The film follows game designers on their journey towards developing a brand new game and captures views of participants and experts in the field. Playmakers premiered at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in 2009.
Community Coaches
thinkpublic is working with Barnet Council and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to prototype and deliver Community Coaches, an innovative community service for families with complex needs.
The After Work Club
thinkpublic created The After Work Club, a network which provides inspiration, connections, impetus and tools to help redefine retirement.
education and employment case studies
Talk to me: Helping public sector professionals reconnect with users, and each other
External and internal communications are deeply linked. This project tells the story of how thinkpublic helped one public sector body reconnect with its users.
Engaging children and young people in emergency health care
thinkpublic was invited by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to research and implement innovative methods to better engage children and young people with their local emergency health care services.
Engage! Encouraging students to co-design for change
thinkpublic co-wrote Engage!, a brief for the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) Design Directions student award scheme. It invited students to engage with a community through design-led participation.
Participatory video – Involving students in film production at John Kelly Girls’ Technology College
thinkpublic worked with students from John Kelly Girls’ Technology College to produce films about the future of the school. The films were screened to the whole school and contributed to a planned school re-design.