Overview
Background
What is Hospital Hero?
Hospital Hero was designed for paediatric patients between the ages of 4 to 10 years old. The app’s intention was to reduce children’s fear and anxiety during their hospital journey from start to finish. The care journey started at home, where children and their parents were prepared for an appointment at the hospital.
The problem
The App now is only targeted for Dutch families, how to make it more inclusive for non-Western migrant families?
In recent years, the Netherlands has seen increasing ethnic diversity among its patient populations due to migration policy. These migrant families experience other challenges than Dutch families in Dutch hospitals. Because of the language problems, other families, especially those with a non-Western background, encounter more challenges in taking their children to see the doctor.
Solution
3-Step Strategy—Helping migrant families to better use Hospital hero
Attract them to download app - Waiting room design- Educate them health knowledge and hospital process - App design
- Improve parents & children’s interactions - App design
Research
Research methods
Research methods
The targeted group is very special under this topic. To achieve our goal, we employed a variety of research methods to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the targeted group and to incorporate diverse perspectives.
Literature research
Researched on the children's anxiety and culture difference of perceiving this problem to know more about the context
In-field research
Observations on how Hospital Hero is currently implemented in the hospital
Interviews
Experts from different fields to know the situated knowledge about inclusive children's & parents' hospital experience
Target group portrait
The target users are Turkish, Arabic, and Syrian families.
They usually have low socioeconomic status (SES) & low health literacy. Most of the parents didn't understand Dutch, and some only knew simple words. However, their kids usually received Dutch education and could speak Dutch but didn't understand medical terms.
Hospital service Analysis
What does a children's hospital system look like?
The main stakeholders include children, parents, the Hospital Hero app, doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and interpreters, whose role is to help immigrant families access hospital services more smoothly.
Stakeholder map of a paediatric hospital
Hospital Journey mapping (Dutch family vs Migrant family)
Migrant parents easily get confused in the hospital.
- Parents don’t see the value of the app.
- Parents are unable to ease their child’s anxiety.
- Parents sometimes cannot understand doctors’ advice.
Journey map of a hospital visit (Dutch family vs migrant family)
Generally, they encountered:
Low health literacy
- Don't understand much about their bodies or health
- Unknown about conducted treatment and outcome
- Limited understanding of how the healthcare system works in NL
Culture difference
- Different understandings and experience on their child’s illness, treatment and hospital care
- Tend to stay close to their child if their child is ill
- Some cultures have taboos on talking about certain diseases, e.g. cancer
Perceived role in healthcare
- Usually listen to the doctor for medical decisions on treatment
- Don't perceive a need to get medical information and question reasons
Socioeconomic issues
- Challenges in gaining digital healthcare (they may not have smartphones)
- Compounded by additional challenges in new environment
- Feel isolated due to a lack of networks or community
Language barriers
- There is usually a missing or lacking way of communication even with the translator
- Struggle to understand the information about their child’s treatment
Design
Service design proposal
3-Step Strategy
From all research, there was not just one solution to make this app more inclusive. There were multiple phases where interventions were found necessary. For the concept, a strategy was created for three phases.
STEP 1: APPROACH
How can families be sensitized to Hospital Hero and be stimulated to download the app?
STEP 2: EDUCATE
How can parentification be avoided, parents feel better prepared and informed, gain confidence in their role, and know how to comfort their child?
STEP 3: INTERACT
How can Hospital hero help children start the conversation but keep them autonomous and in control?
How each step will be implemented in current service
