"P-Heroes": designing a superhero family for pediatric urinary incontinence care

Lola Bladt; Anka Nieuwhof-Leppink; Rose Farah Blomme; Jiri Vermeulen; Alexandra Vermandel; Gunter De Win; Lukas Van Campenhout

doi:10.1017/pds.2026.10678

"P-Heroes": designing a superhero family for pediatric urinary incontinence care

Lola Bladt^*
, Anka Nieuwhof-Leppink
, Rose Farah Blomme
, Jiri Vermeulen
, Alexandra Vermandel
, Gunter De Win
, Lukas Van Campenhout

^*Corresponding author for this work

Incontinence team

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This study presents the "P-Heroes", a superhero family designed through a Research through Design process to support children with urinary incontinence. Inspired by children's own superhero drawings, expert input, and validation sessions with children, the design evolved through iterative prototyping. Each hero embodies traits such as persistence, comfort, emotional regulation, resilience and structure. Together, the "P-Heroes"reflect the diversity of children's journeys toward continence and serve as a playful conversation starter to help them express their needs and experiences more openly.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3205-3214
Number of pages	10
Journal	Proceedings of the Design Society
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10678
Publication status	Published - Aug 2026
Event	19th International Design Conference, DESIGN 2026 - Dubrovnik, Croatia Duration: 18 May 2026 → 26 May 2026

Keywords

behavioural design
co-creation
healthcare design
humancentred design
pediatric urinary incontinence

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10.1017/pds.2026.10678Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

p-heroes-designing-a-superhero-family-for-pediatric-urinary-incontinence-careFinal published version, 544 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "{"}P-Heroes{"}: designing a superhero family for pediatric urinary incontinence care",

abstract = "This study presents the {"}P-Heroes{"}, a superhero family designed through a Research through Design process to support children with urinary incontinence. Inspired by children's own superhero drawings, expert input, and validation sessions with children, the design evolved through iterative prototyping. Each hero embodies traits such as persistence, comfort, emotional regulation, resilience and structure. Together, the {"}P-Heroes{"}reflect the diversity of children's journeys toward continence and serve as a playful conversation starter to help them express their needs and experiences more openly.",

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author = "Lola Bladt and Anka Nieuwhof-Leppink and Blomme, \{Rose Farah\} and Jiri Vermeulen and Alexandra Vermandel and \{De Win\}, Gunter and \{Van Campenhout\}, Lukas",

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month = aug,

doi = "10.1017/pds.2026.10678",

language = "English",

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T2 - 19th International Design Conference, DESIGN 2026

AU - Bladt, Lola

AU - Nieuwhof-Leppink, Anka

AU - Blomme, Rose Farah

AU - Vermeulen, Jiri

AU - Vermandel, Alexandra

AU - De Win, Gunter

AU - Van Campenhout, Lukas

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2026.

PY - 2026/8

Y1 - 2026/8

N2 - This study presents the "P-Heroes", a superhero family designed through a Research through Design process to support children with urinary incontinence. Inspired by children's own superhero drawings, expert input, and validation sessions with children, the design evolved through iterative prototyping. Each hero embodies traits such as persistence, comfort, emotional regulation, resilience and structure. Together, the "P-Heroes"reflect the diversity of children's journeys toward continence and serve as a playful conversation starter to help them express their needs and experiences more openly.

AB - This study presents the "P-Heroes", a superhero family designed through a Research through Design process to support children with urinary incontinence. Inspired by children's own superhero drawings, expert input, and validation sessions with children, the design evolved through iterative prototyping. Each hero embodies traits such as persistence, comfort, emotional regulation, resilience and structure. Together, the "P-Heroes"reflect the diversity of children's journeys toward continence and serve as a playful conversation starter to help them express their needs and experiences more openly.

KW - behavioural design

KW - co-creation

KW - healthcare design

KW - humancentred design

KW - pediatric urinary incontinence

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045249685

U2 - 10.1017/pds.2026.10678

DO - 10.1017/pds.2026.10678

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:105045249685

SN - 2732-527X

VL - 6

SP - 3205

EP - 3214

JO - Proceedings of the Design Society

JF - Proceedings of the Design Society

Y2 - 18 May 2026 through 26 May 2026

ER -

"P-Heroes": designing a superhero family for pediatric urinary incontinence care

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Keywords

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