Thesis Thoughts

Patient empowerment is at an all-time high. People with a medical condition can get reliable, informed information on the Internet that often helps their doctor diagnose and treat them. Patients are frequently able to choose from a variety of treatment options, each equally valid. At the same time, however, patient-doctor face time is ever-decreasing. Time and financial constraints often limit the amount of time a doctor has with a patient to a few minutes. Those with medical conditions often leave the doctor’s office not entirely confident in their understanding of their condition. They are also unwilling or unable to ask questions pertinent to their condition.

All of these problems are exacerbated in regard to emergency room situations. Patients are confused and frightened as they are subject to a battery of tests by unfamiliar doctors and technicians. Following the emergency room, patients must consult a specialist who can provide more in-depth and specialized care. During the time between the emergency room visit and clinical appointment, the patient is left largely in the dark, attempting to obtain information from the Internet and friends. According to a recent study conducted by the University of Michigan, eighty percent of patients do not understand important aspects of their medical condition when they leave the emergency room (Engel).

I am proposing a solution that would help create a more informed, less intimidating emergency room experience as well as ease the transition between emergency room and specialist. My solution consists of two primary components. The first is a narrated video to be played in the emergency room on a television or computer monitor. The video will explain in an immediate, concise, humane way the patients’ condition and what it means for them for the immediate future. This can be used as a supplement to a doctors’ explanations, or if the condition is too complex to be explained verbally or the doctor is not proficient in patient communication, as a primary tool.

To complement the in-office medical animation, I will research and devise a piece to assist patients after they leave the emergency room. Depending on the patient’s needs, this piece could be a printed pamphlet, a web site, or an interactive mobile application. This post-ER experience will use the same graphic language as the animation, but will allow the patient and their family to learn at their own pace, as well as access more detailed information about specific stages of their illness or condition and what to do following the emergency room. Existing interactive medical experiences for patients have focused on chronic conditions or planned medical procedures. My focus will be on the unexpected situations where the patient is at the mercy of emergency rooms and doctors’ booking schedules. To my knowledge, a complementary interactive-motion medical explanation system has not yet been devised.

Primary research will consist of interviewing doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals about their needs and concerns with regard to medical explanation. I will use iterative design to develop the project, meeting with a doctor or nurse who I hope will be on my thesis committee. Interviews with patients will be conducted to determine their viewpoint. Secondary research will focus on studying a medical condition as well as information about medical symbology and graphic systems.

My thesis will show the power of visual communication to increase understanding and comprehension, as well as its ability to impact peoples’ lives in a positive way. I hope to create a platform for future research upon which a new system of medical transparency and accessibility can be built.

Patient empowerment is at an all-time high. People with a medical condition can get reliable, informed information on the Internet that often helps their doctor diagnose and treat them. Patients are frequently able to choose from a variety of treatment options, each equally valid. At the same time, however, patient-doctor face time is ever-decreasing. Time and financial constraints often limit the amount of time a doctor has with a patient to a few minutes. Those with medical conditions often leave the doctor’s office not entirely confident in their understanding of their condition. They are also unwilling or unable to ask questions pertinent to their condition.

All of these conditions are especially true in regard to emergency room situations. Patients are confused and frightened as they are subject to a battery of tests by unfamiliar doctors and technicians. Following the emergency room, patients must consult a specialist who can provide more in-depth and specialized care. During the time between emergency room visit and clinical appointment, the patient is left largely in the dark, attempting to obtain information from the Internet and friends.

I am proposing a solution that would help create a more informed, less intimidating emergency room experience as well as ease the transition between emergency room and specialist. My solution consists of two primary components. The first is a narrated video to be played in the emergency room on a television or computer monitor. The video will explain in an immediate, concise, humane way the patients’ condition and what it means for them for the immediate future. This can be used as a supplement to a doctors’ explanations, or if the condition is too complex to be explained verbally or the doctor is not proficient in patient communication, as a primary tool.

To complement the in-office medical animation, I will research and devise an interactive piece that patients will be able to take home with them or access on the web. This interactive experience will use the same graphic language as the animation, but will allow the patient and their family to navigate at their own pace, as well as access more detailed information about specific stages of their illness or condition. Existing interactive medical experiences for patients have focused on chronic conditions or planned medical procedures. My focus will be on the unexpected situations where the patient is often at the mercy of emergency rooms and doctors’ booking schedules. To my knowledge, a complementary interactive-motion medical explanation system has not yet been tested.

Primary research will consist of interviewing doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals about their needs and concerns with regard to medical explanation. I will use iterative design to develop the project, meeting with a doctor who I hope will be on my thesis committee. Interviews with patients will be conducted to determine their viewpoint. Secondary research will focus on studying a medical condition as well as information about medical symbology and graphic systems.

My thesis will show the power of visual communication to increase understanding and comprehension, as well as its ability to impact peoples’ lives in a positive way. I hope to create a platform for future research upon which a new system of medical transparency and accessibility can be built.

Patient empowerment is at an all-time high. People with a medical condition can get reliable, informed information on the Internet that often helps their doctor diagnose and treat them. Patients are frequently able to choose from a variety of treatment options, each equally valid. At the same time, however, patient-doctor face time is ever-decreasing. Time and financial constraints often limit the amount of time a doctor has with a patient to a few minutes. Those with medical conditions often leave the doctor’s office not entirely confident in their understanding of their condition. They are also unwilling or unable to ask questions pertinent to their condition.

I am proposing a solution that would begin to rectify the discrepancy between patients’ doctor-independent medical knowledge and faculties and their haphazard relationship with an actual doctor, from whom the contact with and information from is still of much more value and comfort to a patient than any information obtained from the web. My solution consists of two primary components. The first is a narrated video to be played in the doctor’s office on a television or computer monitor. The video will explain in an immediate, concise, humane way the patients’ condition and what it means for them for the immediate future. This can be used as a supplement to a doctors’ explanations, or if the condition is too complex to be explained verbally or the doctor is not proficient in patient communication, as a primary tool.

The world of medical animation and imaging is limited largely to intra-doctor communication and research, using highly detailed three-dimensional models and textures framed in a scientific manner. Medical imaging intended for the consumer falls mostly within the realm of television documentaries, where the aim is primarily entertainment. There also exists the “cause video” of which the purpose is social, calling for awareness or donations for research. Again, these sorts of videos are not focused on a patient with real, pressing concerns. The video I devise will set a template for a whole range of explanatory videos in medicine that are patient-focused and highly digestible. Indeed, I hope to implement a system that can be used for most age groups, so that children, adults, and the elderly will all be able to comprehend. The video will use a symbolic graphic visual language that eliminates extraneous detail and focuses in on what’s most important to the patient. Motion design allows for a sequential narrative that invites the viewer to follow along as they would any movie or television show. A video also gives additional context and explanation through the use of narration.

To complement the in-office medical animation, I will research and devise an interactive piece that patients will be able to take home with them or access on the web. This interactive experience will use the same graphic language as the animation, but will allow the patient and their family to navigate at their own pace, as well as access more detailed information about specific stages of their illness or condition. Existing interactive medical experiences for patients, of which there are not many, have focused primarily on life-threatening or life-changing conditions and procedures such as cancer and stem-cell transplantation. My focus will be on conditions like kidney stones or pneumonia, which are more mundane but no less important to the patient suffering from them. In addition, existing systems have not been driven from an information and graphic design standpoint. To my knowledge, a complementary interactive-motion medical explanation system has not yet been tested.

Primary research will consist of interviewing doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals about their needs and concerns with regard to medical explanation. I will use iterative design to develop the project, meeting with a doctor who I hope will be on my thesis committee. Interviews with patients will be conducted to determine their viewpoint [uh, I guess??]. Secondary research will focus on studying a medical condition as well as information about symbology and graphic systems.

My thesis will show the power of visual communication to increase understanding and comprehension, as well as its ability to impact peoples’ lives in a positive way. I hope to create a platform for future research upon which a new system of medical transparency and accessibility can be built.

I am still not sure of a specific medical area to concentrate on, but I have been making some progress.

I spoke with a Dutch research nurse in Amsterdam who has worked on software to help patients understand stem cell transplantation and cancer. He will be sending a CD with the aforementioned software. Another researcher in New Mexico who has done similar work will be talking to her colleagues about my ideas and getting back to me. I spoke with my brother, who works for Molnlycke Health Care, which makes surgical and wound equipment. He is going to be sending the videos they have demonstrating their products to me. Britt graciously lent me her father’s diabetes documentation for my reference.

I am also in contact with several PhD nurses on campus, a couple of whom I hope will be interested in being on my committee.

Here are the first strains of what will hopefully turn into a formal proposal.

A graphic designer’s first aim is always to make as much information as possible comprehensible in a visually engaging way. I wish to apply this ethos to, in effect, the world of medical illustration. Most depictions of medical conditions and procedures are overly technical or in some way not focused on aiding a patient with the condition in question. Motion graphics and animation is one medium that I am interested in working with to achieve my goal of patient- centric explanations of medical conditions and procedures. Motion allows for a sequential narrative that invites the viewer to follow along as they would any movie or television show. Motion also gives additional context and explanation through the use of narration. I am also interested in the realm of interactivity and how a granular, user- controlled method of conveying information allows patients to explore and comprehend at their own pace. Motion graphics and animation can be used in conjunction with interactivity to allow for contextual explanations of specific areas.

I am not sure whether I should tackle a more deliberative subject like cancer where it is common to weigh many options or go for very direct explanations of conditions that the patient could view in the hospital or doctor’s office. It seems to me that explanations of even relatively common conditions like kidney stones or pneumonia could be aided with visual technology.

Dutch researcher Arno Mank has found that it is important for patients to leave the doctor’s office with something tangible, so in that light I’m thinking of a two-part system, a strictly linear video presentation for in the doctor’s office, with a related interactive piece with more in-depth info for the home.