Instructors: Maribeth Kradel-Weitzel, MFA, Ben Ayzenberg, DPT, Erin Freimuth, DPT 

This workshop highlights a collaborative initiative between Jefferson Hospital and Jefferson University that reimagines patient education through the lens of human-centered design. The project focused on redesigning educational materials within the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Program, which had traditionally relied on a static, diagnosis-specific binder—often used more by staff than by patients or caregivers. 

Through a human-centered design process, the team engaged patients, families, and clinicians to co-create more accessible, relevant, and user-friendly educational tools tailored to real-world needs. This session will walk participants through the design thinking methods used, showcase outcomes of the revised materials, and explore strategies for applying similar approaches to other clinical education challenges. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for centering the patient experience in educational resource development. 

 At the end of this session, participants should be able to:  

1. Describe potential benefits of a patient education resource.  

2. Explain how clinicians and design professionals can collaborate to create a patient education resource.  

3. Identify design features that promote access, understanding, and engagement with a patient education resource.