Design for Well-Being, Empowerment and Experience of Care: Minimum Design Requirements of a Children Prosthetics for Initial Approach to Sport Activity and Aquatic Physiotherapy

The paper is relevant to the scope of design for wellness and the medical field. Specifically, the research presents a critical analysis of existing case studies, with and without patent, and the identification of minimum requirements for sports prosthetic systems suitable for amateur children’s swimming. Traditional design responds to the “standard user” concept, which penalizes and excludes part of the population. Instead, this research uses the Design for All approach: systemic, holistic, and necessarily multidisciplinary. Methodologically, the principles of Human-Centered Design (HCD) are adopted, focusing on the real users, directly involving them in the design process. Paper’s structure provides an overview of the research area and, in line with the chosen methodological approach, proceeds with the identification of end users, their needs, and requirements through a participatory process. Subsequently, the analysis of the relevant state of art and the ensuing deductions are conducted. State of art research has identified a deficiency in experimenting with devices for aquatic sports: non-performing and expensive, but functional for taking the initial step, particularly in swimming practice. Specifically, in light of the need for children with trans-radial agenesis to undergo water-based hydrotherapy, and recognizing that a suitable device can yield more significant physiotherapy’s results and a shorter acclimatization period in water, the necessity to design new prosthetic systems has been identified.