Lim Bridget
The Operating Theatre as Behavioural Infrastructure
Having developed a passion for image-making, fashion and storytelling early in life, Bridget has always been drawn to all things creative. With a background in visual communication, she began her practice driven by aesthetics, before pivoting to focus on user-centered social design.
Staying curious, she often employs unorthodox, human-focused methods towards problem-solving, finding ways to expand her skillsets through experience. Working closely with stakeholders to uncover overlooked needs and co-create meaningful solutions, is of utmost importance to her.
As she moves through different experiences in life, her work has naturally evolved to embody her interests and passions, offering a unique glimpse into her identity as both a creative and a designer.
The Operating Theatre as Behavioural Infrastructure
How might we redesign the approach taken towards designing the operating theatres (OT) in order to encourage sustainable behaviour and efficiency, in turn reducing unnecessary waste during cataract surgery?
Singapore prides itself on its world-class healthcare system, having established services that are both affordable and accessible. With growing concerns surrounding sustainability in healthcare and a rise in cataract cases, one question still remains — how will hospitals adapt?
Having been given the opportunity to perform ethnographic research in the clinics and OTs at the National University Hospital’s (NUH) Ophthalmology Department, I was able to experience first-hand what a cataract surgery was like.
Unsustainable behaviour could be observed throughout the surgeries, where inconvenient workspace design led nurses to constantly have to exit the theatres to gather supplies, while recycling bins were often placed in inaccessible areas, lowering and creating inconsistent recycling habits. Additionally, there was a one-size-fits-all approach taken to designing for healthcare. From the instruments and equipment used, to the space itself, most were designed for a general use rather than being speciality specific. Therefore, the common denominator in the lack of sustainable behaviour was the infrastructure itself — the operating theatre.
I then took this to the relevant stakeholders: ophthalmologists, surgical nurses, NUHS staff, and hospital planning team members. Through interviews, I was able to gain deeper insight into the struggles of working within a space not built for ophthalmology's workflow. After speaking with members of various hospital planning teams, I gathered that although stakeholders are involved in the spatial planning of a hospital, the root of the problem lay within the communication. Between the designers and non-designers, there was a gap between visualisation and communication. Although professional design tools were used in these meetings to illustrate the proposed designs, these tools often didn’t allow for quick changes or tactility.
Therefore, I designed the toolkit consisting of various props for stakeholders to draw out their preferred OT layout. This toolkit provided a hands-on approach to visualisation, allowing for a shift in perspective from the usual, structured layouts of the NUH OTs. During these sessions with the stakeholders, they drew data collection points, accessible bins, and different workflows to create a more efficient, sustainable OT. I then used the information collected to create a digital game system, where users could then explore their proposed OT designs.
The toolkit formed a bridge between the stakeholders, who use the space frequently, and the planning teams, who may be more detached from the ins and outs of the healthcare field. This not only generates practical insights, but provides sufficient evidence for the proposal of interventions backed by first-hand experiences from ground staff, increasing the likelihood for acceptance within individuals, and encouraging reasonable goals and behaviour.
In conclusion, framing the OT as behavioural infrastructure highlighted the potential for spatial design to encourage more sustainable surgical practices. By focusing on developing a methodology to sustainable OT design, designers and healthcare institutions can begin to develop environments that support both high-quality patient care and more sustainable surgical practices.