Getting Adolescents to “Yes”

The Project

How do you get teenagers to agree to something they don’t want to do? Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a dangerous and potentially life-threating condition for anyone in the hospital. However, agreeing to VTE prevention methods is optional. Adolescent patients with sickle cell often refuse prevention methods despite being 8X as likely to develop dangerous blood clots.

For this 14 week project, the team developed and piloted a six-component system with two aims: (1) Provide a sense of option and choice to adolescents while still promoting VTE prevention methods and (2) support nurses and new doctors who are responsible for VTE prevention.

My role

Led an interdisciplinary team of 3 graduate design students and 4 medical students through primary and secondary research, prototype development and concept testing.

FINDINGS BY STAKEHOLDER

Adolescents with sickle cell: Challenging life stage, incredible pain, life threatening situations

Adolescent can be a challenging time for everyone. Add in a chronic illness requiring regular hospital visits, debilitating pain and with regular requests from nurses and doctors get out of bed and move and you have a recipe for a power struggle.

Adolescents with sickle cell are 8X as likely as their peers to develop blood clot issues or venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, agreeing to VTE prevention methods is optional, making it one of the few things adolescent patients can control. This often results in patients refusing these preventive measures. VTE prevention methods include drinking water, wearing compression boots and moving to encourage blood flow. Adolescents with sickle cell are often in a pain crisis making anything but sleep seem impossible.

Caregivers and parents: Worried, exhausted, no simple solutions

For caregivers who are with adolescents in the hospital, the patient’s safety is top-of-mind. So are many other things, like other children at home, feeding the family,

Residents: New doctors, lots of responsibilities

The role of remembering to order VTE methods often falls to new doctors, called residents who are learning a new role and addressing patients’ top medical needs. In the chaos of a hospital floor, addressing VTE prevention methods with patients and nurses sometimes gets lost.

Nurses: moving from ‘nagging mom’ to supported care team member

The burden of enforcing VTE methods falls to nurses. After the physicians have visited a patients room, nurses are the ones asking patients again and again to agree to wear compression boots and move around. Often with no supports other than typical patient education pamphlets, nurses are the face of VTE prevention creating an adversarial relationship with patients.

LEVERING BEHAVIORAL DESIGN