Redesigning The Women’s Health Center
by Cancergeek
Earlier this week I was asked to help a healthcare organization (not the one above) as they conceptualize a plan for a new Women’s Health Center.
As I began asking questions, listening and taking a lot of notes, it was apparent that the team had done a few things already:
1. There was an internal team of stakeholders
2. The team consisted of women
3. The women were all leaders within the organization
4. The women were developing a vision
5. The women were thinking beyond traditional services such as breast health and fertility
As I began asking more questions about their conversations and comments, I heard something magical from one of the leaders,
“We want to address real issues that women face. Issues that are often not discussed openly. Topics such as mental health.”
After taking a few dozen notes on stickies, filling up my wall, reviewing the notes and comments, and starting to affinitize the notes, I stood back to take it all in.
I started to think about my life choices if I had been born a female.
How would I have grown up differently?
Would I have loved and played basketball still?
What would have been my challenges going from a parochial middle school into a public high school?
Would I have gone to the same university?
Would I have had the same opportunities as I went into my professional career?
Would I have made the leap from clinical expertise in oncology to physics, to administration, to consulting, to designing and operating hospitals and cancer centers?
As I went back to the sticky notes, I got my spark…..
“Wouldn’t it be nice if…..I had a place that helped me manage my transitions in life”
All women’s health centers in the U.S. are basically the same.
They consist of having a building with 4 walls, a bunch of magical black boxes inside, arranged in the typical breast, OB/GYN, and labor/delivery manner. Some may have a spa-like feel. Others may be more clinical and sterile. A few may have nutrition and wellness as part of their offerings.
What if I was able to work with the team to understand and define how women grow and develop within their specific community?
Imagine if, I discovered that there is a major transition in young women moving from grade school to high school. Associated with that transition is a need for specific education, groups, services and tools.
Imagine if, I discovered that there is an epidemic in TBI (traumatic brain injury) in high school aged females due to sports or other activities. I would be able to develop specific programs around that need.
Imagine if, I learn that there is a risk associated with women moving from college into their professional careers. It would be nice to have specific programs and support designed for those needs.
I began to layout what a facility of the future may look like for women based on my “spark.”
Instead of 4 walls, with black boxes arranged by a service, the “center” morphs into a facility arranged by the transitions in a woman’s life. Grade school, middle school, high school, college, single professional, married without children or considering children, and so on and so forth.
The building allows for women to interact, connect, and share, by common transitions and experiences.
Perhaps the “center” is not a single destination but becomes multiple destinations dispersed throughout the community. Perhaps some of the destinations are not even physical but only digital. Other “centers” may be both physical and digital.
What I foresee in this project is an opportunity to re-think what a “women’s health center” really is based on the needs of the women living in the community. A place that meets the needs of all women, at any age, based on the difficult transitions that occur as we grow up.
A place that is not a single destination, but a community that is built and embedded in our daily life. A place in which everyone knows your name, but more importantly, a place that is safe to talk, to learn, and to share the stories that only women can relate too.
A place that creates brand loyalty for the healthcare organization by being there as a woman grows throughout her life.
A place the delivers care at the N of 1 for all women and meets women where they gather.
As always you can feel free to email me at cancergeek@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @cancergeek
~Cancergeek
