Exploring care at work in healthcare in Aotearoa - New Zealand
This design for health research explored ‘care at work’ through an Appreciative Inquiry approach (participatory action research) with a group of healthcare professionals in Aotearoa – New Zealand. Participant engagement in a co-creation process online was facilitated through practising whakawhanaungatanga and utilising creative methods, design thinking tools and processes. In this process, we empathised with notions of ‘care’, appreciated what currently works and imagined how ‘care at work’ in a compassionate healthcare system could be. This informed the creation of a prototype facilitator toolkit to guide creative, collaborative (co-creation) inquiry with care. This contributes to emerging conversations around care and compassion at work and the contribution of design for well-being at work. Care at work is complex and evolving – the potential for proactive connection and care could be facilitated through imagining, designing and practising in more relational, inclusive and responsive ways of working.
