DESIGNING POST-TREATMENT EXPERIENCE FOR TEENAGE CANCER PATIENTS

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC approached Institute of Design students in the fall of 2012 to apply technological concepts such as the Human API and quantitative self to the challenges faced by cancer patients’ post-treatment phase.

Our team's concern was to design a system that would assist teenage leukemia patients during school reintegration, by encouraging independence and identity development.

Communication Workshop Fall 2012 • Guide: Anijo Mathew • Team: Adam Panza, Diego Bernardo, Keta Patel

DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

Facilitate goal setting: Setting and achieving goals can be an important tool in developing independence in teens. It can also serve to allow the population to pursue interests and hobbies, which is helpful in creating an identity that is not defined by the cancer experience.

Allow mood tracking: Mood analysis allows individuals to see a correlation between what they do and how they feel. Mood tracking throughout the day encourages users to practice the healthy habit of acknowledging how they feel.

Build social connections: Social connections are critical to this age group to develop identity and independence.

Encourage sharing: To build empathy for the patient, and allow others opportunities to better understand the post-treatment experience.

"Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of adulthood."
Life, Interrupted: By SULEIKA JAOUAD

The Health Squad we designed consists of 3 components:

· An i-phone unlocking app which records moods
· Three bands that display the user’s mood data
· A goal assistance and mood analysis platform that can be viewed by all stakeholders

View the keynote prototype

DESIGNING POST-TREATMENT EXPERIENCE FOR TEENAGE CANCER PATIENTS

Our team's concern was to design a system that would assist teenage leukemia patients during school reintegration, by encouraging independence and identity development.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

Facilitate goal setting: Setting and achieving goals can be an important tool ­in developing independence in teens. It can also serve to allow the population to pursue interests and hobbies, which is helpful in creating an identity that is not defined by the cancer experience.

"Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of adulthood."Life, Interrupted: By SULEIKA JAOUAD

Facilitate goal setting: Setting and achieving goals can be an important tool in developing independence in teens. It can also serve to allow the population to pursue interests and hobbies, which is helpful in creating an identity that is not defined by the cancer experience.

"Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of adulthood."
Life, Interrupted: By SULEIKA JAOUAD