CAREWorld : a design mapping tool for developing future visions of care

Tools

Urquhart, Lewis and Rodgers, Paul and McGuire, Neil and Woods, Mel and Lim, Chris and Bruce, Fraser (2026) CAREWorld : a design mapping tool for developing future visions of care. Design for Health, 9 (3). pp. 401-422. ISSN 2473-5132 (https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2025.2572272)

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Abstract

This paper introduces CAREWorld, a co-design tool centred around a fictitious map that supports the exploration of how future design interventions might be implemented within NHS Scotland’s operational structures. It enables an abstract yet practical understanding of the complex landscape of NHS health and care services. Given the NHS’s pivotal role in public services across Scotland and the UK, engaging with it through a design lens is essential. By applying multidisciplinary design research methods, CAREWorld facilitates meaningful discussion and analysis of key challenges, particularly those related to sustainability, by connecting NHS Scotland with external systems and interventions. Design research offers both analytical insight and imaginative capacity, helping to clarify real-world problems while envisioning alternative futures. The tool is readily applicable to health and social care contexts and can be adapted for other domains. Crucially, it allows conceptual links to be drawn between different design proposals, revealing both synergies and tensions. We demonstrate its utility through a co-design session in which CAREWorld is used to map and interpret design innovations within an NHS Scotland context.

ORCID iDs

Urquhart, Lewis ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9773-8225, Rodgers, Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3149-191X, McGuire, Neil, Woods, Mel, Lim, Chris and Bruce, Fraser;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)