Aart School

Project summary
I am looking to create a product and or service that will improve the experience of being a hospital patient. Currently hospital rooms — and the things in them — are designed for the ease of the staff and the safety of the patient. This is a good thing, but little thought is given to the patient’s experience. Beds are very uncomfortable, light switches and bedside tables are unreachable. Machines that beep loudly, bright lights, and other patients disturb sleep. The needs of visitors’ are rarely considered. Aesthetics are seldom taken into account. Other than TVs there is nothing to engage, stimulate or distract the patient.  

Research objectives/questions

1. What projects have been done already?
2. What are the problem areas for patients, visitors, and staff?
3. What scientific research has been done in this area?

Exploring these questions will inspire and direct the direction, design and, final outcome of the project. 

Proposed methodolog(ies)

Explain why a given method is suited to a particular question

1. Secondary research, via internet, books, magazines, etc. will reveal the breadth of what exists.
2. Interviews with patients, families, hospital staff. Shadow patient, family, staff at a hospital will show what is actually going on in the hospitals. The material will be analyzed via card sorting or other methods, tbd.  
3. Secondary research, via internet, books, magazines, etc. will let me know if studies confirm or deny other findings. 

Timeframe and milestones

Week of 3 October

1. Reach out to contacts in health care community to find institutions and individuals willing to be interviewed
2. Continue secondary research

Week of 10 October

• Begin interviews, and shadowing
• Continue secondary research

Week of 17 October

• Continue interviews, and shadowing
• Continue secondary research
• Synthesize findings

Potential audience

Who are you designing for? 

My ultimate audience is the patient themselves. Secondary audiences are the visitors, andhospital staff.

What do you know about your audience so far, and what questions have you yet to answer?

Patients

 I know:

• They find the experience of being in a hospital uncomfortable and stressful. 
• They are generally bored.
• They often don’t know what’s going on.

I want to know:

• What changes will yield the greatest effect. 
• What will work for most populations?

Visitors

I know: 

• Generally, families are camped out for long periods of time, often in uncomfortable cramped spaces.
• They are scared and unsure how best to help the patient.
• They also are often outside the communication loop.

I want to know:

• How they would define their needs
• What would help them in their interactions with the patient

Hospital Staff

I know:

• They care about their patients and want the best for them
• They often hack solutions
• They sometimes go around the administration to do what’s best for the patient

I want to know:

• What insights they would have in solving the problem

Hospital  Administration

I know:

• They are cost-driven

I want to know:

• If they see a problem
• How they would react to a solution

Experience you intend and form it might take 

Describe the experience you’d like your solution to provide and what do you plan to make to communicate the experience.

To envision a future patient-centered experience. Quiet rooms, with furniture and necessary items that are easily accessible. Rooms that can be customized by the patient to feel like home. Communication with staff and outsiders that is simple to navigate and close at hand.  I’m not sure what I’d make to communicate the experience, perhaps a video.

Market Context

What are the opportunities for your thesis idea in the marketplace? 

This thesis topic could result in a service to be implemented by hospitals. It might also be a product that is supplied by the hospital or purchased by the patient.  

Background Research

What’s already been done in this field, and how does it relate to your query? Provide examples of projects, books, projects, or technologies that serve as background research for your topic, and your evaluation of their relevance.

So far my research has yielded projects in several different categories:

Service design plans specific to an institution

• Student thesis project for Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital focused on information delivery.
• An over arching service design plan for Denmark’s largest hospital which looked at everything from family involvement to healthy food.

Architectural solutions

Many of these are rooted in “evidence-based design.”

• There are several initiatives such as the Pebble Project which seek to bring many firms/organization together to collaborate.

High-tech Solutions

1. Everything from robots on rounds to smart beds. 
2. A media-drive room for the VA (the info is not public currently)

Hybrid

• The most interesting is Kaiser Permante’s Innovation lab a 37,000 sq. ft. lab where ideas and technologies are prototyped. 

Why topic is relevant/interesting

My interest started when my father, who died of pancreatic cancer five years ago, was in the hospital. I saw how the experience of the hospital setting affected him. He developed hospital-induced psychosis, a common occurrence. My mother and I did everything we could to normalize his experience. We would write the date every day on the wipe-board in his room, bring him books, magazines, etc.  

Last year my mother, who passed away in May, was in the hospital and a hospital-based rehab facility for six months. I was able to see how the environment affected her, myself, and other visitors. She once quipped: ”the person who designed this bed should be made to sleep in it.” Unable to get out of bed on her own, any item placed further than arm’s reach was completely inaccessible. Using boxes from medical supplies, she cleverly hacked a series of table-top organizers to maximize space for personal items on the table that went over the bed. When she entered the rehab facility the first thing I did was to decorate the room — I bought plants to brighten the room and hung pictures to inspire and amuse her. I also brought games and puzzles and forced her to do them with me to aid her cognitive ability. 

What do you hope to gain from the experience? 

I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the problem, and aid with real-world solutions.

How is it relevant to you?

Unfortunately, we will all be in hospitals many times in our lives, as patients, friends, and family members. I wish to make it the best experience it can be under the circumstances.   

Project plan

What are your next steps?

Delve into research and interviews so that I can narrow the focus.

One particular area in all of this I’d like to explore more deeply is how family and visitors interact with the patient — specifically in aiding the cognitive development of patients. For instance following surgery my mother was awake but unresponsive for two months. I would take pictures around the city on my iPhone and then show them to her and talk to her about them. I would draw pictures for her using “Brushes” on the phone. Later when she was able to communicate I would bring jigsaw puzzles, matching games, and colored blocks in order to get her to move and think. Could some set of tool kits be developed so that family can help the patient heal?