AMJ

Using visual metaphors to facilitate healthcare communication to low-literacy patients aids adherence, however, it requires verbal explanation from the health professionals. It should also be developed in collaboration with the target community taking into account their cultural settings.

The fields of design and medicine share common interests in improving the human condition. More specifically apparel designers and physicians have in-depth, but varying, knowledge of the structure and workings of the human body and use that knowledge to address human needs. By using the design process as a means of communication, the two fields can develop solutions to human problems. Successful outcomes result when all participants take time to share information, delve into research from the other fields, and meet often to revise and agree on project goals.

The data reported in this paper suggests that stroke patients do not use  Assitive Products (AP) as they should in order to achieve independence, that there is a great lack of awareness about APs and that there are AP on the market not fit for purpose.

The design of the structures in which we work, rest and play serve the health agenda by ensuring that all who use those facilities, irrespective of their physical or cognitive capacity are able to contribute to society. Designers also claim that human emotion is a very significant confounding variable in design for health. Therefore authors in this special edition of the AMJ suggest that the aesthetic qualities of the objects and symbols around us, indeed the very clothes our healers choose to wear, have a significant impact on our experiences and ultimately on the speed of recovery when we are ill.

This paper describes the causes of the wayfinding problems in hospitals and suggests ways to solve them. The paper is by and large based on the author’s personal experience and observations.

The creation of an environment that acknowledges the need to address the anxiety many patients feel in a health care setting is important. Health care workers should also be considered in this context as the quality of the building environment is an im­portant factor in their everyday lives.