Beyond safety: A design examination of facial PPE in paediatric wards

In paediatric wards, establishing therapeutic rapport with children requires employing friendly gestures or an understanding gaze, an aspect inhibited when clinicians wear facial personal protective equipment (PPE). In this case study we explore how interactions in three scenarios of a paediatric ward might inform the design of child-friendly PPE. We show how our research methods involved healthcare professionals, parents, and children to identify problems and solution pathways. Our findings indicate that PPE for paediatric wards need to be a system design solution considering emotions, engagement, communication, education, and sustainability factors. We discuss three aspects of conducting design research in healthcare contexts: working within high-risk environments, ethics in design for healthcare projects, and the translation of findings within the regulatory landscape.