Use of Creative Methods in Healthcare to Solve Data and Information Problems: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

Abstract

Digitization is vital for data management, especially in healthcare. However, problems still hinder healthcare stakeholders in their daily work while collecting, processing, and providing health data or information. Data is missing, incorrect, cannot be collected, or information is inadequately presented. These problems can be seen as data or information problems. A proven way to elicit requirements for (software) systems is by using creative methods. However, it is unclear to which extent they are used to solve data or information-related problems in healthcare.

The primary objective of this scoping review is to investigate the use of creative methods in addressing data and information problems in healthcare.

Following JBI guidelines and the PRISMA-ScR framework, this paper analyzes selected papers, answering whether creative methods addressed healthcare data or information problems. Focusing on data problems (elicitation/collection, processing) and information problems (provision/visualization), the review examined German and English papers published between 2017 and 2022 using keywords related to "data," "design," and "user-centered design". The database SCOPUS was used.

Of 898 query results, only 23 papers described a data or information problem and a creative method to solve it. These were included in the follow-up analysis and divided into different problem categories: data collection (n=7), data processing (n=1), information visualization (n=11), and mixed problems meaning data and information problem present (n=4). The analysis showed that most identified problems fall into the information visualization category. That could indicate that creative methods are particularly suitable for solving information or visualization problems and less for other, more abstract areas such as data problems. The results also showed that most researchers applied a creative method after they knew what specific (data or information) problem they had (n=21). Only a minority chose a creative method to identify a problem and realize it was a data or information problem (n=2). In response to these findings, the paper gives a possible outlook of a novel idea, the User-Centered Data Approach, that addresses healthcare data and information challenges by promoting collaboration, iterative feedback, and user-centered development.

Although the potential of creative methods is undisputed, applying these in solving data and information problems is a minority. To harness this potential, a suitable method needs to be developed to support healthcare system stakeholders. That method could be the User-Centered Data Approach.