Design thinking in cancer care: A systematic literature review

Objective: Cancer can have a profound impact on the life of the patient, presenting challenges such as dealing with complex healthcare models and psychological burden. Implementing design thinking (DT) in cancer care can improve the quality of life for patients. Although DT has been used in healthcare, there is limited research highlighting use of DT in cancer care. The objective of this review is to explore the applications of DT within a cancer care context. Methods: We systematically searched databases (PubMed Central, Scopus, and Medline) for relevant papers published between January 2018 and March 2023. Articles were identified using keywords: 'cancer', 'cancer care', 'oncology', 'design thinking', and 'design science'. Studies meeting our inclusion criteria were included and data was collected on the focus of study (i.e., design thinking and cancer care), target condition, target intervention and objective of the study. Thematic analysis was performed to identify recurring themes across studies. Articles were evaluated by the lead author and cross verified by the other two authors to reduce the risk of bias. Results: Twenty studies were included out of the 160 articles identified whereby 11 focus on cancer care (5 patient-facing, 5 community-facing, and 1 provider-facing studies) and 9 on design thinking (5 patient-facing, 1 community-facing, and 3 provider-facing studies). Overall, seven themes were identified with several subthemes. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that design thinking has been successfully applied to improve patient experiences in cancer care. By involving various stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, and communities, design thinking helps better understand real world problems. However, there is a gap in design thinking research concerning the long-term evaluation and scalability of design thinking-based interventions. Additionally, our findings suggest that mixed methods approach for future studies would support to establish more empirical evidence in this domain.