Playful Co-Design in Hospital: Empowering Young Patients Through Creative Collaboration

We believe that working with children, young people and families with healthcare experience is essential to creating solutions that truly work for them. For us, play is a core part of how we engage in co-design and develop effective digital health solutions.

That is why we have been hosting Play Days in hospitals across the country, including Northwick Park, University College London and John Radcliffe, since June 2024. These workshops give children, young people, families and staff the space to get creative, experiment with different technology and design with us in a playful way. So far, we have engaged with over 60 children and young people, 20 caregivers and 13 staff members. 

Through play-based co-design, we have been able to work together on projects such as: 

• Developing a space in our app just for children, full of all the age-appropriate activities they can try before, during and after their hospital appointment. This separates the child- and adult-focused content within the app when a child is using it on their caregiver’s phone.  

• Supporting young people aged 13 to 17 by making sure the app responds to what matters most to teenagers in hospital. 

• Refining our games by testing and iterating interactive experiences that help children feel more at ease in hospital. 

These play workshops generate both fun and insight. Arts and crafts, clay moulding, role play, and interactive games are not just enjoyable, they give children an empowering and creative way to express themselves, explore their hospital experience and tell us what they need from Little Journey solutions. 

“It is nice to be involved in creating things that will make hospital more enjoyable for other patients like me.” 
– 14 year old patient 

“All the children were really engaged and excited to be involved. You made a real impact on their visit today.” 
– Play Team Lead

By embedding co-design in play, we ensure our solutions are not only shaped by expert feedback from children, young people, families and hospital play teams, but also that the very process of design brings moments of empowerment, calm and joy to those involved. 

These Play Days aren’t just limited to Play in Healthcare Week — we run them throughout the year, working alongside hospitals to champion the power of play in healthcare. Thank you to the Play Teams we have collaborated with so far. We cannot wait to work with you again!