Project Breathe: An Update
The Brief: How can we support transition of children (4–10 years) from parental management to self-management in their asthma care.
Exploring the Problem: Primary + Secondary Research
Zooming out: in the initial phase of our project, we wanted to gain as broad an understanding of the context as possible. These include attempts to understand the following areas:
- How children and parents manage the condition in different contexts (going to school, doing sports, emergencies, etc)
- Pain points in growing up with asthma
- Feelings in growing up with asthma
- Asthma triggers
- Tools and devices
- Existing protocols at public environments such as school
- Analogous domains such as diabetes
- Behavior intervention designs
Interviews
- Doctors — Internal Medicine
- Friends With Asthma
- Children’s School Staff
- Moms of Kids with Asthma
Creating a Stakeholder Map
We began our process by mapping out everything we knew about asthma, looking for points for intervention. It revealed a level of complexity that we had not originally realized; several pain points and points for intervention were revealed:
- Information Exchange
- Support for Non-Parental Supervisors
- Support for Parents
- Social Stigma
- Self-Confidence
Gaining Focus
Obesity, Confidence, and Asthma
At this point, we did another interview which revealed:
I was afraid to exercise because of my asthma attacks, so I became overweight, which made me even more afraid of physical activity. As I gained weight, I lost confidence in my body and ability to participate in sports.
While simultaneously, a bout of secondary research revealed:
The results revealed a number of factors associated with an increased risk of bullying. Factors such as a reduced participation with sport and feelings of sadness were significantly associated with an increased risk of bullying…as well as poor asthma control, parental smoking and parents’ on-going worries about their child’s health, were also associated with bullying.
The Target Group: Children ages 8–10 who can already use an inhaler effectively and understand their symptoms in everyday life, but need to more effectively adapt their behavior in more extreme contexts.
Insight
Physical activity can be the starting point for gaining self-confidence, self-management, and independence with asthma. We believe if a child can learn to adapt their behavior during physical activity, it will foster a sense of confidence and better self-management across all activities.
A Moment of Clarity
Connected Inhaler
We know Phillips is developing a connected inhaler, so through co-sketching, we extrapolated the future of the device. We envision an inhaler that is able to collect physical activity data as well as understand dosage and use patterns.
Using Data
Combining it with data about the environment, such as common triggers like pollen levels, pollution, temperature, and humidity will…
make way for a service ecosystem.
Iteration One: An Adaptive Personal Training System
We designed a mobile personal training program that would adapt its intensity based on environmental triggers and data gathered by the inhaler network.
Storyboard
- Phillips designs a connected inhaler able to measure physical activity as well as use and dosage patterns.
- Phillips partners with doctors and trainers to design a physical training program for children with asthma
- Doctors recommend the program to parents or parents sign up for the program themselves
- Training programs for different solo activities are delivered to the child via a digital interface
- Intensity is moderated past asthma history and environmental triggers, encouraging the child to exercise while managing their asthma.
What works
- Uses exercise as a conduit for asthma management
- Breaks the cycle of obesity, asthma, and self-confidence loss
What doesn’t
- The service is not engaging for children in the targeted age group
Insight
We put ourselves in Phillips’ shoes while designing a service around a connected inhaler, and while we believe this program would increase self-management through data, we realized that it was realistically targeted at an older demographic. We needed to create something engaging for kids.
Iteration Two: An Adaptive Group Exercise Program
Storyboard
- Phillips designs a connected inhaler able to measure physical activity as well as use and dosage patterns.
- Phillips partners with doctors and trainers to design a physical training program for children with asthma
- Doctors recommend the program to parents or parents sign up for the program themselves
- Training programs for different group (day-camp?) activities are delivered to the leader of the group via a digital interface
- Intensity is moderated past asthma history and environmental triggers, encouraging the child to exercise while teaching the child about asthma management.
What works
- Uses exercise as a conduit for asthma management
- Breaks the cycle of obesity, asthma, and self-confidence loss
- Engaging and fun for kids
- Encourages community and inclusivity
- Introduces, kids, parents, community to the Phillips device
- Builds user base
- Starts building a database about asthma triggers and exercise
Value Proposition
Our service is an individualized physical activity program (what) that increases the child’s self management of asthma, allowing them to engage in physical activity more confidently, safely, and freely (goal).
Future Plans and Questions
We arrived at a service proposition after an initial synthesis of our research into broad areas. We want to probe deeper into the follow areas (this is where we are now):
- The relationship between asthma and specific types of sports such as swimming (potential health benefits and risks)
- Existing efforts to coach children with asthma in sports
- Moments of interaction between gym teacher/coach and child
- Concerns and reasons that prevent children in engaging in sports
- Stakeholders in sport settings
Stakeholder Map: School Focused
Stakeholder Map + Value Flow Current State
How might we:
