In the county of Leiria, Portugal, part of the population is known to have morbidity diagnoses (metabolic illnesses and more) and poor health habits on a big enough scale to bring the idea of how low health literacy can affect people's lives and health services, such as a flood of the emergency systems caused by people attending the emergency room with minor issues. To address it, institutions in Leiria such as the City Hall and Polytechnic of Leiria decided to conduct a longitudinal and prospective cohort study, where a sample of the population will be followed throughout time to understand if their choices regarding health and sustainable habits are indeed affected by their health literacy levels.This project will contribute to the initial stage of this cohort study, by developing a recognizable brand, whose identity can be maintained throughout all its communication and dissemination media, so that the population can identify, without equivocation, the cohort study to which it refers, and awaken their curiosity to participate. This stage also includes the presentation and dissemination of the cohort study itself to the population under study, followed by a randomized inquiry done by pre-selected interviewers.This project relies on Service Design and Participatory Design methodologies to streamline the development of the study’s elements and to solve common cohort issues, such as: 1) gathering a suitable number of participants that can represent the population; 2) follow-up maintenance of participants; 3) keeping the interviewers and participants engaged with the study, after the first contact. Informal interviews and user group definition will help the comprehension of the study and allow to create personas to characterize the interviewers of the cohort study. These aforementioned methodologies will be supported by the workshop methodology under Participatory Design, acting as a testing ground for the previously developed processes, preparing interviewers to adapt their communication when facing people from different generations, education, and social backgrounds.By carrying out this project simultaneously with the cohort study, it’s possible to evaluate, over time, how the design methodologies can empower and facilitate communication and intervene, changing tactics in case it’s needed. The creation of a replicable experience is proposed allowing the betterment of the overall health of the population. Additionally, assuming the lack of information on how the preparatory phases of cohort studies are designed, it’s also envisaged the creation of guidelines and a good practice manual. It is also of great importance to point out the bridge established between the health and design fields, where design becomes the interface between science and the public.

This project emerges from the need to counteract a scenario of risk and unpredictability in the care provided to patients in illness situations, which stems from a poor or non-existent health record system (HRS). The direct contact in the year of 2017 with an emergency medical Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), working in context of humanitarian crises, demonstrated the precarious and yet scarce presence of such a system. The lack of practicality, easy understanding and access to other health partners proved to compromise the quality of care.Since a functional HRS (via paper or electronic means) is a core component for the management, delivery, and safety of quality in healthcare, the identification of a simple and yet effective system, capable of maintaining a history of care provided, is imperative. This need increases exponentially when the focus is on a humanitarian crisis context, in which populations have been forced into displacement and the health system is disrupted, of which the Internal Displaced Persons in Iraq are an example (commonly referred as refugees). The constraint of resources and the clash of different cultures and experiences between professionals, can hinder or even compromise the provision and quality of care, as well as the experience and perception of patients themselves regarding the services provided.With this study I propose the mapping of a HRS within an emergency medical field hospital, in a refugee camp in Iraq, to ensure the quality of emergency management and delivery of care, in a scenario of instability and political uncertainty. This system, which functions as a systematically collected database, presents specific health characteristics of a given patient when receiving differentiated care essential to guarantee high standards of care.A service design methodology to test the hypothesis will be used through a service blueprint development, capable of mapping the activities, processes and systems involved in a patient's health experience. Design research methods such as service safari and user shadowing with informal ethnographic interviews will be implemented, as well as workshops with national and international health professionals involved with NGO work.Thus, it is expected to re-design a robust monitoring and patient track, with faster access of the patient’s history to health professionals, a better prevention of medication errors and duplication, and a greater transparency in the management and delivery of care. The easy implementation of the system will also allow an easier communication of patient’s needs and care, between different health stakeholders.