Hospitable Hospice

The team visited three hospices and a funeral home, interviewed care teams, noted ethnographic observations, shadowed care staff and held interdisciplinary group sessions to brainstorm for ideas to transform hospices. The study, released in unveiled seven design concepts to address the future hospice experience at multiple levels – policy, facility, community and the individual. They included “Care Central”, a new community care model that coordinates hospice home care, day care, ambulatory and in-patient care and Open Hospice, a service platform that ensures that Care Central is integrated into the community via a range of outreach services and programmes. Other care concepts promoted good communication, volunteerism, the importance of enjoying life’s little pleasures and the importance of respecting the individual and giving patients a voice.Twenty four design principles complemented the design concepts. These included creating a coherent care brand, guiding people throughout their care journey, recognising the person behind the patient and not separating the sick from the healthy.