Preparing children for needle procedures at Børneriget
This project aimed at finding out how we through preparation of children can reduce their stress and anxiety for minor needle procedures in order to create a hospital service for the new childrens hospital in Copenhagen, BørneRiget.
Collaborator
The project was carried out with and for BørneRiget
Target group
Children in the age of 3-10 Approach: Service Design
My role
-
Conduct ethnographic studies
-
Develop servicedesign concept
-
Validate and evalutate with stakeholders
-
Present research results to hospital professionals
Concept Creation
We used different research methods to get familiar with the hospital environment and procedures, and to understand the needs of the patients, the children.
We conducted narrative interviews with the children themselves, but also interviewed their parents because they play an essential part of the children's hospital experience as they are supporting before, during and after the procedure. Furthermore, we iteratively included stakeholders in the process, e.g through validation of the concept in order to create the best possible service for the children.
We analysed and clustered the research data – which resulted in six themes. These themes were the basis of the design openings and kick-started the design and development phase.
User journey
We used the user journeys as a tool to understand and analyse the children’s experience of the hospital service on a more detailed level.
Service Blueprint
We used the service blueprint to visualise and analyse the entire hospital service and support processes, as well as the children’s experience and journey in relation to the service provided.
Service Blueprint
User Journey
Final Concept
Trauma as a result of bad hospital experiences as a child can be prevented through better preparation. Preparations reduces the child’s experience of pain, they get less frightened as well as adapt and recover more quickly.
The main goal of the service concept was:
-
To create an opportunity for children to prepare for their procedure
-
To be acquainted with the hospital context in general
-
To create a common denominator between child and hospital.
The service concept consisted of two added touchpoints to the hospital service
‘Dialogue Cards’
Together with the hospital invitation the parent will receive Dialogue Cards. These are meant to support them in their dialogue with their child about the hospital procedure.
‘Practice Post’.
When the families arrive to the hospital for the procedure, a Practice Post is placed in the waiting room.
The Practice Post includes different activities, where the child and their parents can
-
practice the upcoming procedure in different ways,
-
get familiar with the hospital staff, rooms and equipment.
