Ethics and Risk. Doing Design Research with People in Care Homes

Drawing on doctoral research that is currently in progress within two care homes for older adults, this paper makes an argument for participatory approaches to design research and explores how a situated and social understanding of risk is required to develop an ethical approach to design research in this field. Within this it is argued that researchers working with marginalised groups should not only be aware of the risks that group might face but be sensitive to potentially competing perspectives on risk. Secondary literature encompassing design as well as health and social care is used to frame some of the issues arising in the fieldwork before moving on to develop insights about the potential for design to provide an 'ethic of care' that can respond to tensions around risk and potentially recast these as a creative and constructive opportunities.