Student group’s challenge

“The students worked on differentiation in heart rehabilitation. So, people who had had a heart attack and then had to rehabilitate. With two of those students, the father had experienced something like this, and one of the things the students learned was that rehabilitation often takes place in groups. But within such a group, there is relatively little differentiation within treatment. One of the fathers was actually a very fit person, so he wanted to move faster than the rest of the group. So that father was held back in his rehabilitation. […] In the end, students developed a kind of prototype on paper of an app. The conversations that the students had with patients revealed that an app was the most convenient solution. That patients have something on their phone. […] Students were initially puzzling with whether they could bring differentiation with a card game or dice game. The students thought that was a fun idea but realized—after conversations with patients—that an app is more convenient and that it is a functionality that really adds something on existing solutions. Yes, it is a good idea. With this group, the students were testing the game idea among patients, and they (students) realized that the app was more convenient. How did the students react to that? Students then have to make a change, but the students mostly felt relieved because then they (students) have something” [T7 heart rehabilitation].

Teaching activities

“The students discovered that there was a big advantage with the app, and then I also tell them that it is a very good discovery. Because through such an app, patients can also communicate with their physiotherapist and other care takers. Students can build in a communication functionality, so that patients can consult care takers through a chat function or something. And that confirms that that was indeed a very good idea. […] My role as a teacher is to bring the students to those kinds of ideas. So, I encouraged students to go to patients to check and test their idea. That is how I remember it. There are different solutions, you can think about different ways of what can be added to the app. But let’s present it to the patients for whom it is intended. I encouraged students to talk to the patients about it. Then, write down what the patients think, because then you have a basis for your solution in this innovation project. So that also means that I stimulate students in a substantive way in the process. […] That I say, ‘this is how you could approach it’, because sometimes students find it difficult to come up with the next thing themselves” [T7 heart rehabilitation].