PD 3.1 to the rescue: challenges for participatory design in a health care context

A National Strategy for E-health has been introduced in Swedish county councils. The strategy indicates that health care needs to become more accessible. To generate usable and sustainable e- Health solutions in Swedish health care, Participatory Design (PD) was introduced as a working method in an e-Health project in the south of Sweden. The project has met with opposition; e-health solutions are not exactly what Swedish health care wanted at the same time as different arenas within the health care organization have difficulties understanding each other. The aim of this study is to find work methods that result in applicable, usable, and sustainable ICT- solutions in every day work within Swedish health care. The study suggests that a modification of third generation of PD may be one way to the challenges PD has come across in the health care context.