The expansion of remote home care has been driven by technological advancements, a growing elderly population living independently, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote care services offer opportunities to improve accessibility and efficiency. However, these advancements also introduce challenges related to trust. Trust is essential in remote home care, influencing interactions, social wellbeing, and care outcomes. A lack of trust can lead to inefficiencies, miscommunication, and hesitation to share critical health information, ultimately reducing the effectiveness of remote care.
This thesis explores how trust can be improved through service design, focusing on creating a service vision for the client of this thesis, Syntilio. Syntilio is a company developing digital platforms for triage. Given the complexity of trust in healthcare, elements from systemic design are applied to integrate multiple perspectives throughout the research and design process.

Trust in remote care operates on multiple levels. At the micro level, it is shaped by the relationship between care providers and receivers, relying on perceptions of ability, benevolence, and integrity, as described by Mayer et al. (1995). At the meso level, trust concerns technology’s reliability, usability, and security, following the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis (1989). While macro-level trust in institutions and healthcare policies influences public perception, this project focuses on trust at the micro and meso levels, where design interventions can have a direct impact.

Qualitative research identified key factors contributing to both trust and distrust in remote care. Care providers often struggle to trust triage technology due to incomplete, scattered, or outdated information, making decision-making more difficult. Care receivers experience uncertainty due to limited knowledge about their care providers, the alarm system’s functionality, and a lack of communication during alarm events. This uncertainty leads to anxiety and hesitation in using remote care services. Addressing these issues is key to improving trust in remote care interactions.

A service vision was developed through brainstorming and co-creation workshops. Prototypes are made from the touchpoints. The Introduction Booklet provides care receivers with clear information about their care providers and the alarm system, reducing initial uncertainty. The Talk Tool enables structured interactions between care receivers and providers while also allowing updating of personal and medical information. The Stay Connected Application helps care receivers manage their medical data, improving accuracy and reducing administrative burdens on care providers. The Alarm Live View is a build-in feature in the application that provides follow-up information for care receivers, reducing anxiety during alarm emergencies.
The Smart Alarm Dashboard enhances triage efficiency by providing sufficient, organised and updated data for care providers.

User testing and iterative design resulted in an interactive service blueprint outlining functionality. The implementation roadmap, developed with Syntilio, includes investigation, implementation, and continuous improvement. The service is expected to improve remote care by reducing false alarms, enhancing communication, and strengthening relationships between care providers and receivers. The service could be scaled to new remote care centres and into other healthcare fields, such as post-surgical monitoring and chronic disease management.