Improving health literacy during at-home surgical prep and recovery

We were given access to actual patients, caregivers, doctors and nurses receiving and providing critical gynecologic cancer treatment, the freedom to choose an aspect of the healthcare experience to improve, an array of research and design methods we could implement, and mentorship from experts in the health/medical technology industry.

My team chose to focus on the portion of care occurring before and after surgery regarding the communication between nurses and patients both during on site appointments and during prep and recovery while the patient is at home.

We found that the materials nurses could provide to their patients for reference during their at home prep and recovery time were adding friction for the nurses and confusion for the patients. We found that the materials were dense and lengthy, included details that didn't apply to every patient, and left time-based directions too vague to be confidently and accurately followed.

Considering the limitations of the particular healthcare environment we were operating in, we designed and tested a hybrid system that would output customized directions in both a digital format and a printable format on-demand. With our tool, Ami (short for automated medical instructions), these materials could be automatically catered to a patient's unique situation, factoring in details such as the timeline of their care, their co-morbid conditions, and the specific surgery they were prescribed.

We anticipate that by implementing Ami into this healthcare environment patients will feel less confused, more reassured, and more confident during their home-based surgical prep and recovery, and nurses can focus less on clarifying, appending, and identifying non-applicable information on handouts, freeing up precious capacity to connect and support each of their patients on a more human and emotional level.