Exploring Healthcare Design Series: Introduction and A Recent Experience
In writing about healthcare design, my goal is to generate ideas and present different cases on how human-centred design can improve healthcare. I want to explore the different ways healthcare and design intersect with other topics such as equity, research, user experience design, digital health, women’s health and more.
In this first blogpost, I wanted to talk about a recent experience that made the importance of healthcare design apparent to me. When users access a health product or service, feeling supported throughout their journey can strongly impact their comfort levels and willingness to access healthcare altogether.
I was volunteering at a local community clinic, located in the basement of a women’s shelter. One thing that stood out to me over time was the importance of support for patients in the form of being accompanied by other individuals. These individuals ranged from family members, friends, social workers, shelter representatives, etc. At times, I would be the one helping the patients navigate their journey at the clinic.
At the onset of COVID-19, only a limited number of people could enter the clinic, and some patients could not bring in their supporting company. This policy especially took a toll on a subset of patients, including those with disabilities, language barriers, and younger patients. While having people who can wait for you in the waiting room or accompany you inside the clinic could sometimes be viewed as a “nice-to-have”, its absence seemed to negatively affect how comfortable some patients felt accessing the clinic.
In an effort to try to accommodate patients’ company, I spoke to the front desk and we came up with a system where they could give me a call to check if a certain number of patients and supporting individuals could come in depending on clinic capacity. This line of communication not only allowed us to accommodate our patients’ needs, but also became a way for us to streamline future clinic processes.
This to me was an example of how focusing on the human experience could improve patients’ outlooks on accessing health services. Although this relationship was not tested through a scientific study, it was interesting to see the transformation in patients from anxious to calm when they had someone supporting them through their time at the clinic.
This observation can be translated into interventions such as having patient navigators at all clinics, or creating a digital solution that provides similar support. When working with vulnerable populations, we also need to be aware of factors such as digital equity, digital literacy, and trust in the medical system, which can add another layer to how people seek support in a healthcare setting.
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My email: nikoo.aghaei@gmail.com
My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikoo-aghaei/
