koi– Empowering Health Care 2030
Laura Bisbe, Rachel Zhang, Sam Zandbergen, Amanda Wallgren
“How might we give the nurse a tool to empower children with diabetes type 1, as well as the people around them, at a distance”
Our current healthcare system is designed around treating the sickness, not the person as a holistic whole. We envision a healthcare system that is patient-driven, collaboratively supported by medical professionals, the family, and the community; transforming towards a healthy and health-creating society focused on wellbeing.
Our vision is built on the foundation of three pillars, community, medical professionals, and the family members around our patient. We don’t want to treat the patient as an isolated person but as a part of the community.
01 | Research Process:
We kick-started the project by discussing our own personal experiences when it comes to health care at a distance. One main aspect, that later would come to guide our entire project, was a story about Laura's brother who had since a young age lived with diabetes type 1 and how that had been.
The second week we traveled to Storuman, a rural town in the north of Sweden, to talked with local experts. We clearly saw the sense of community and and got to learn about their view on how important preventative care will be in the future.
After coming back we began the work of synthesizing. We decided to work with the concept of preventative care and to focus on people living with chronicle diseases in places faraway from the specialized medical care they would need.
To give the project an extra focus we decided on working with the chronic disease diabetes type 1 and young kids. This both because of our personal relations to the topic as well as the need for preventative care in the future.
In addition to this, diabetes felt relevant since it has increased by 40% in Västerbotten between 2009–2019. And, if not managed well, diabetes can lead to devastating complications, such as heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, kidney failure, amputations AND mental illness.
Who we spoke to:
We realized early that when living with diabetes it does not only effect the patient but also the people around them. Therefore we started to interview not only the diabetes patients themselves but also their parents, siblings, teachers as well as medical professionals.
Insights:
1. Importance of mental support as well as practical
- Due to lack of support or knowledge — diabetes can lead to mental health issues eg. eating disorders.
- Having someone to share your diabetes with is important. “I tell my kid every day that if I could, I would take his diabetes”- Quote from mother we interviewed.
- Patients with someone close to them (friends or family members) who have diabetes often experience an easier time finding balance in life when it comes to their diabetes.
- There is a gap in-between hospital visits when patients and their family, will feel like they are left with all the responsibility and no support.
2. Wish for suitable education tool for patient, family & community
- In school, there are not enough recourses & teachers hesitate to take responsibility when it comes to kids with diabetes. This puts both the kid and the parents in a difficult situation.
- Current learning material is difficult to explain to children. Some parents tackle this through making up fairytales or creating challenges with rewards if the kid manages their diabetes in the right way.
- Everyone’s diabetes is different, therefore the info on the internet might not be right for you or your child.
- It is hard for parents to let go and trust their kids to make their own decisions since the consequences can be severe. At the same time, the kid needs to learn and at some point, become independent.
02 | Design Explorations
In the next phase we started to build quick prototypes. We were exploring different tools and interactions and acting the scenarios out together.
03 | Presenting Koi:
The Nurse Platform:
The Nurse Platform is the overarching concept for Koi which keeps everything together. Here the nurse can keep track of the kid's health data while, at the same time, support them through their learning journey at a distance. They can also see how the kids are interacting with their distance tools and how this relates to their blood sugar level.
Toolbox for kids 7–9 years old:
In this concept, we see that there would exist different toolboxes for kids of different ages. However, we choose to focus on the one for kids the age 7–9 years old. This since, according to diabetes specialists at Umeå University Hospital, it is the age when kids need to start learning by themselves how to handle their diabetes. This is also the age when they would start school and be put into new social contexts, where also the community (eg. teachers), would benefit from learning more.
Below we will continue to explain the two products inside the Toolbox for 7–9 years old kids with diabetes type 1…
Distance Tool 1: The Koi Companion
This is Koi Companion, the tool that is meant to answer to the emotional support the kid might need. It also enables a way for the kid to externalize their disease — by taking care of the Koi Companion they are also taking care of themselves.
When the companion is hugged it reads the glucose sensor, that most people with diabetes are equipped with today, on the kid's arm using an NFC reader. It then retrieves the kid's values and gives feedback. This enables the kid to take care of the toy while at the same time taking care of themselves — when the Koi companion’s levels are stable the kid’s will also be.
Distance tool 2: The Education Board
The Education Board answers to the practical learning that the kid needs. One example is learning how to calculate the amount of insulin that is needed depending on what they plan to eat.
The Education Board comes with different tokens representing different types of food that are used to give input on the board. The physical board enables tangible input and digital output through the screen, for the kid to fully engage in the learning. The kid will be able to engage in general challenges but also personalized ones that are sent out from the nurse– this since everyone’s diabetes is different and the kid needs to learn about their own.
What about the community?
We envision that through distributing these different toolboxes to both the patient, their family as well as the community (eg. for teachers to use in school) we will create a safety net around the kid living with diabetes type 1.
05 | Our aim with this project:
- Create an educative tool that nurses can prescribe to patients, their family and the community, for everyone to feel informed and confident.
- Give the nurses the ability to provide mental support and presence, at a distance, to children living with diabetes type 1.
