Design thinking for public good:moving towards change?

This paper analyses the experience of a co-funded European Commission project that aimed at diffusing design thinking methods, particularly from the toolkit (IDEO, 2014), across libraries in three countries: Italy, Portugal and Romania. Aarhus library (Denmark) development and practices were taken as the main reference (or best practice). The key issues explored in this manuscript regard: continuity of networks and sustainability of the design approach learnt. In order to better define this analysis’ contributions, we suggest the following questions considering this specific project experience: - What aspects hinder and which ones contribute to carrying out the project among different countries afar? - Which are the critical factors that can support design thinking approach implementation and sustainability? - Will the networks be kept and evolve towards more innovative scenarios after the end of the project? We point out our learnings, positive implications for public libraries, and criticisms faced. From these, we start drawing on best practices, and suggestions for scaling up a human-centered approach across European libraries in order to contribute to building the legacy of this kind of project

Making Visible: Valuating the Impacts of Design Intervention for Social Cooperative

The aim of this exploratory paper is to generate a method of evaluating design interventions for organizational change in third sector and to apply this method to an ongoing design research project with a national social cooperative in Italy. The evaluation model is a way to present what changes and impacts that design, especially strategic design, could bring to organisations and how these results could enable organisations to fulfil its missions in a more “human-centered” process. The results will consist of a theoretical framework to evaluate, taking social cooperative as one example, and the applied results in an empirical project. In the future, this framework will be continuously developed in this and also other similar projects

E-LEARNING AND DESIGN PRACTICE. Tools and methods for professional learning of strategic design approach

The aim of this paper is to present a new methodology in teaching the strategic design approach combining e-learning with practice activities in a unique process of learning experience. Design is moving its domain area close to the management of the innovation and the company strategy. In this new framework strategic design is a mind-set that drives to answer to the social, economic, environmental challenges. Designers can improve their capacity do adopt this mind-set to be able to operate in this complex context also using specific tools and design methods to understand the user experience and to co-design new solutions. These methods are various and can be taught and learned through various education experiences; a wide range of topics in a constantly changing world render designers as lifelong learners. This new professional framework need a continue learning process that designers need to follow to empower skills, competences, knowledge and abilities. Trough a research activity with a pilot experience, a new teaching methodology has been tested in international high training courses and partially in a training program included in a European project

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients