BackgroundBiobanks for research (BBR) are organized repositories of biological materials and associated health information with enormous potential and value for scientific research. In consonance with increasing attention to healthy aging research, BBR specifically oriented to chronic diseases and aging populations have gathered heightened attention. Public perceptions and patient choices are key to design, develop and implement patient-centered BBR. Public awareness, education and involvement are confidence building and unequivocally lead to higher participation in scientific enterprises.ObjectivesTo assess patient awareness, perception and choices regarding aging biobanking activities.MethodsWe developed and applied a standard anonymous questionnaire to rheumatology terciary outpatients, aged 50 or older, between March-October 2016. Demographic data and perceptions about biobanking were collected. Data analysis was performed using Stata 14® software.ResultsWe obtained a total of 131 valid responses [age (min-max, 50–93), mean (64); sex ratio (M/F) (40/91, 44%), education years (min-max, 0–20), mean (8.5)]. 69% of respondents did not know the specific term “biobank” but 57% were aware about the possibility of donating their biological material for research purposes. Furthermore, 77% of respondents indicated they were willing to contribute with their biological material to BBR, stating they had no particular preference whether these infrastructures were of private or public nature. However, they expressed a clear preference for these to be based at scientific research institutes (50%), instead of hospitals (23%), universities (16%) or biotechnology companies (7%). Moreover, respondents highlighted diferent requirements for their participation with anonymity (31%) and confidentiality (27%) ranking as top priorities. Most importantly, a majority of respondents (70%) expressed their agreement with a biobank exclusively dedicated to the study of aging, considering that people of older ages have higher disease burdens and that such research infrastructures and practices expressed respect for the particular problems of the elderly (Figure).ConclusionsOur study constitutes a comprehensive assessment of public perceptions and patient choices regarding biobanks for aging research purposes among rheumatology outpatients. Although awareness is still suboptimal, BBR are highly regarded health infrastructures with enormous potential for further patient-centered development.Disclosure of InterestNone declared

Doctoral studies are changing worldwide, with growing concerns about doctoral graduates' employability and ability to develop relevant links with industrial challenges. The present study aims examine the impact of Design Thinking skills on PhD students on their future academic and professional performance. Drawing on 7 years of pedagogical experimentation, we conducted a mixed methods longitudinal study to investigate the perceptions of students who attended a two-day Design Thinking workshop. Two questionnaires, with a total of 40 items measuring the quality and course impact dimensions, were given to 415 and 41 students, respectively. Finally, 12 students were chosen for in-depth interviews to learn more about how they applied their newly acquired design thinking skills in their research and work. Our findings show that developing Design Thinking skills impacts the professional lives of students of all fields of knowledge, ages, and stages of their PhD. The primary outcomes mentioned are associated with increased creative confidence and collaboration abilities. This study focuses on relevant dimensions for designing and delivering Design Thinking skills within doctoral programmes, as well as the impact of design thinking on the quality of PhD education and student employability opportunities. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-02 Full Text: PDF

In a post-COVID world, rethinking the campus experience is critical for defining new pedagogical strategies. As higher education moves toward more student-centred action learning models, university leaders should engage in democratic design methods that empower students and professors. Design thinking (DT) is a user-centred design approach that can aid in the creation of future learning environments. While DT has been used in innovative space design, we know little about how students, professors, and other community members can act as codesign partners. To understand their role in codesign and how their experiences are incorporated into new building design decisions, we need a conceptual model. To develop this model, we examined a case study of the evolutionary co-design process of a new building for a leading information management school in Europe. Using the concept of three phases of design thinking defined by Brown (2009): Inspire, Ideate, and Implement, we collaborated with a group of 50 design thinking students and more than 500 members of the community representing different stakeholders, to create new spaces and rethink the learning experience. Our discussion will centre on the creation of a participatory design thinking model that positions students as design partners alongside university decision makers. The findings conclude that, by applying design thinking methods, it was possible to unveil new dimensions of the success of future campuses that go beyond the building design. Creating meaningful learning spaces that inspire creativity and critical thinking requires an alignment between human centred design, organizational change management and new pedagogical strategies.

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