Design and the art of re-invention

In their book the 100-year life, authors Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott propose a model of ageing that consists of multiple stages, rejecting existing models, which neatly divides the lifespan into education, work, and retirement. The fundamental hypothesis in the book is that ageing well is dependent on our ability to navigate these multiple life-stages through a constant process of re-invention. At the heart of this process (amongst other things) is moving from notions of recreation to re-creation.

Of course, in many ways, these ideas are not especially new – Florence Clarke and Jeannie Jackson in their landmark study of ageing in the 1990s developed the concept of ‘Lifestyle-Redesign’ whereby older people facing key points of transition were equipped with the skills to think differently and to effectively re-create their lives, anticipating their needs, re-designing their environments and their lifestyles in the process. In 2009, Paul Chamberlain and I community-based mental health were involved in a project led by the RSA which sought to teach design to people with spinal cord injuries as a route to independence, resourcefulness and greater control over their lives.

Recently, global events and occurrences closer to home have led me to reflect on these notions of invention and re-invention and the key role they play in our health and wellbeing. Charles Darwin was just one of several proponents who suggested that fundamental to survival is our ability to successfully respond to and adapt to the broader environments we inhabit. It is this ability to continually evolve and adapt to change that enables us to grow and to thrive. One of the things that design offers is the space to see things differently, to look beyond challenges to see possibilities and in doing so perhaps imagine a different future. Then, once this can be envisioned and understood, to take steps towards realizing a different possibility.

The role of design in creating different perspectives is a theme that runs throughout this issue where design thinking and co-design are a feature of many papers.

Lia Bryant, Bridget McFarland and Jane Andrew in their research paper ‘Co-Design communities of practice in community based mental health and rural suicide prevention’ present two case studies in mental health co-design. Within their co-production process, they highlight the centrality of relational practices and the power of collaborative looking and thinking in creating alternative ways of thinking and seeing.

The importance of relationality is a theme which is again picked up within Leila Aflatoony, Kenneth Hepburn and Molly Perkins’ paper, ‘From empathy to action: design thinking as a catalyst for community-based participatory research in dementia caregiving’. This research article adopts a novel approach to examine the potential benefits of integrating design thinking into community based participatory research within the context of culturally diverse dementia caregivers. The potential strength of this approach is that it moves from a process of thinking and conceptualizing to the design of tailored interventions that are responsive to the specific needs of the community. A key feature of this is the incorporation of empathy methods such as storytelling and mindful listening to foster understanding of the needs of individuals and caregivers.

Storytelling can offer a deeper understanding of experience, moving beyond a simple gathering of information. It can also help to change thinking, offer multiple perspectives and in doing so to challenge stigma. This theme is explored by Niko Vegt et al. in their article ‘Erasing Stigmas through storytelling: why interactive environments could reduce health-related stigmas’. Within the paper, the authors highlight the multi-faceted nature of stigma, notably in particular health conditions and unpack ways that stories can help to challenge these, offering multiple perspectives and eliciting support for those affected by stigma. A worked example of provided through the demonstration of an interactive storytelling environment against weight stigma.

Narratives and storytelling provide one mechanism to tap into deeply held and sometimes hidden perspectives. In this issue, Hannah Sames, Stephen Reay, Cassandra Khoo and Gareth Terry take an alternative approach. Rather than focusing on stories, they explore the potential of painting and colour to help uncover different perspectives and sense making around a shared focus. In the case report, ‘Thinking through colour: designing a collaborative paint-based toolkit’ they highlight the value of using mark-making as a non-verbal way to help participants communicate through the expression of feelings or emotions, clearly illustrating how creative activity can help to uncover different perspectives and in doing so to help challenge the boundaries of what insight driven healthcare might look like.

Md. Haseen Akhtar and Janakarajan Ramkumar adopt an alternative approach in their a re-imagining a new health-care delivery model for rural India. Following a thorough and very detailed interrogation of the challenges of current and existing models, drawing on multiple sources and insights from stakeholders the authors end their paper with a re-imagining of what might be possible, and which responds to the title of their paper ‘Does rural India need a new primary healthcare delivery model?’ Again, the strength of this paper is the space that design affords to think and to imagine.

Creating spaces for shared thinking, imagining, and learning across generations is at the heart of the research paper ‘Dovetails: Personhood, Citizenship and Craft between Children and Older Adults’ written by Henry Collingham, Jayne Wallace, Jill Brewster and colleagues.

This intergenerational co-creative participatory design project utilizes craft methods to build reciprocity in supporting wellbeing and citizenship. Within the paper, the authors describe how shared creative engagement in making helped participants to reframe their understanding and provided a mechanism to adapt and grow. The work offers some lovely insights.

The art of re-invention of course does not only relate to how we think and re-imagine. It can also relate to how we respond to broader technological developments. This is well illustrated by Justin Magee, Ozelle Kinalele, Kyle Boyd and Raymond Bond in their paper, ‘Measuring the quality and impact of 3D medical printing in surgical planning, procedures and communications using product usefulness surveys’. Here they explore ways of determining the effectiveness of this technology in a real-world healthcare setting and in doing so raise important questions around 3D printing in clinical contexts, particularly in relation to medical errors and gender inclusion, identifying a number of significant considerations.

So, returning to the beginning of this editorial, and the power of design and creative practice to re-imagine and re-invent our future selves. There is a certain poignancy about this as we share the news that our wonderful Assistant Editor, Kirsty Christer is leaving her role to explore pastures new. Kirsty has not only been integral to the day-to-day running of this journal but before this she worked for over eight years as Editorial Assistant on the Design Journal. She has worked tirelessly alongside authors and reviewers to help turn ideas and partly formed papers into articles that have found their way into the world and in doing so has changed thinking and practice. We send her every good wish in her new adventures and the next chapter of her life. Thank you, Kirsty, for all you have done. We will miss you!!

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.