Transition design: Co-creating system solutions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care

Choosing the appropriate design process is critical for the effective implementation and long-term sustainment of interventions aimed at addressing public health challenges. To address this need, we proposed a Transition Design model to identify and deliver sustainable solutions for complex healthcare problems. This model generates system-level health-intervention initiatives that can synergistically function, particularly during the development and implementation phases, to enhance healthcare delivery. Drawing from a case study on addressing the challenges of hospitalisations and early discharge for people with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), we reflected on the process and analysed the outcomes. Although further testing for the initiatives is warranted, this study contributes to the evolving discourse in design research on systems solutioning for public-health challenges. • Transition Design enhances addressing complex public-health challenges. • Integrating co-creation with Transition Design enriches system solutions. • The model provides a roadmap for exploring and implementing system solutions. • More studies are needed to apply Transition Design in public health challenges.