HXD Reflections: From Population Health to the User Journey
The following is an article written by Kevin Dedner, MPH, Founder and CEO of Henry-Health. This post is the third in a series reflecting on the recent Healthcare Experience Design (HXD) conference in Cambridge, MA. Powered by the team at Mad*Pow in Boston, HXD is focused on the future of health with a lens toward human-centered design.
Last month, more than 200 researchers, designers, public health professionals and other thought leaders convened in Boston for the annual Health Experience Design (HXD) Conference. It was my first time attending the meeting and I am still reflecting on the talks that were given and my sidebar conversations. As someone who has spent the majority of my career working on public health issues, I was impressed with the lens that conference provided. I have long held that we already know enough to reduce disease burden and infirmity. Our challenge has been — and continues to be — how do we change behaviors? How do we create environments that make the healthy choice the first choice? This was the ultimate theme of the conference.
I walked away with two key takeaways I’d like to share:
Be intentional. Design work is all about thoughtful intentions. I once heard Oprah say that her secret to the success of the Oprah Winfrey Show was that she always asked her team to set clear intentions. If a producer wanted to bring someone on the show, they had to be able to convey their intentions. When we set out to solve public health problems, we have to be very clear about what we are trying to accomplish and for whom. We have to consider how every decision point will impact our targeted population and the potential for unintended consequences.
For example, as we consider adding bike lanes to help promote physical activity, we must also be mindful that these changes can interfere with existing social and cultural constructs that play a role in maintaining health. In DC, the presence of bike lanes — though great for encouraging more active lifestyles — threatens much needed parking spaces for ministers and church-goers in changing and low-income neighborhoods. These historic, safe gathering places have long been the heart of community identity and key drivers of neighborhood social support and connectedness (key ingredients for mental health support and promotion).
The days of one solution that covers everyone are over. Healthcare and solutions to solve health problems must now be personalized and accessible for all. We must be intentional, and in a way that considers the consequences of our design decisions.
Keep it simple. Too often we have made the conversation around being healthy and creating healthy environments too academic. The conversation around the social determinants of health has gained tremendous momentum and professionals from all sectors are working to understand their role in creating a healthy community. But we need to simplify this conversation.
Steve Downs from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation made this very clear in his HXD keynote. As someone working in mental health, I often struggle to help folks understand what they can do to improve their mental health. Steve made the case for five simple things that could be done to improve mental health.
1. Cook with real food.
2. Get plenty of sleep.
3. Spend time outdoors.
4. Move around.
5. Develop real social connections.
That’s simple stuff that we can all do. And it’s also very easy to explain to others.
And these things can also have a positive impact on overall mental health. In my experience talking with others about mental health, people tend to think in terms of more severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Mental health is something we must all maintain — whether we’re talking about a new mother at home with her baby, or someone with job stress. Mental health challenges are all around us and are exceptionally common. And when we ignore them our physical systems and organs can suffer. As put by HopeLab during the mental health session, when it comes to mental wellness — reinforcing gratitude, mindfulness — the maintenance of mental health is a skill that can be taught.
Going from Population Health to a User Journey
As someone with a public health background, HXD opened my eyes to the concept that designers are behind every product. Traditionally in public health, we’re used to crafting interventions for population health, but we tend to do this without taking a step back to look at the journey from the individual’s (user) perspective.
As Steve pointed out, our society has evolved faster than our bodies have been able to evolve. The changes in technology over the last several years have outpaced our ability to make biological changes to keep up.
Traditional public health needs to join the conversation with design and technologists as a sort of three-legged stool to support the development of these intentional and simple solutions. When we do this, we will be able to design interventions with our target population(s) in mind, rooted in evidence and leverage the best technology to promote healthy outcomes. Designers have a skill of viewing the experience of the user, when and if we can emulate that skill in public health, I believe we will finally see the improved health outcomes we desire. Seven years ago, you could not have convinced me that it would be standard practice for payers to allow telehealth visits for everyday visits or that I could wear a device to track my heart beat and sync with my phone!
The possibilities with technology are unimaginable. But, if we are intentional and keep it simple (for the user), I believe that we can finally tackle many of the public health challenges we have struggled to meet.
HXD Reflections: From Population Health to the User Journey
Research & References of HXD Reflections: From Population Health to the User Journey|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments