Xiaoyu Zhang

How can we create a more homely and playful children’s hospital waiting room environment?

Abstract

Healthcare waiting experiences may cause trauma for children (SilavUtkan 2012, p.112; Lerwick 2016, p.143). Lerwick (2016, p.143) states that in the healthcare waiting room, children will feel anxious to a certain extent, and these experiences will also cause them various degrees of trauma. Waiting in the hospital will create colossal pressure for patients and their families, and it is also a massive challenge for children patients (Pedro et al. 2007). Similarly, Delvecchio et al. (2019) show that children will be unable to control their emotions in an unfamiliar environment, and they will feel helpless, angry or even aggressive. However, few studies have shown that solutions can be provided to help children patients be actively distracted during the waiting process, so that reduces children's anxiety in the waiting room and reduces children's second-time anxiety in the treatment room.

Therefore, this project investigates ways to improve children’s hospital experiences by exploring a design intervention in the waiting room. Through a practice-based project, I explore how small pods can be designed to create semi-private spaces for children to play and feel safe in the waiting room.

  • In phase one, I mainly studied the needs of children in the healthcare waiting room and how games can help children reduce anxiety. Limitations due to COVID-19 meant that immersing myself in the waiting room of the children's hospital to understand the needs of children was not a viable way of getting context. Instead, I have had to rely on the Internet and interviews with parents in order to understand the needs of children.

  • Sketches are important for communicating concepts from the designer to other people to the design process. So, in phase two, I used design sketches to interviews with parents to get their feedback. That feedback then informed further iterations of my design. However, at this stage, I was confused between sketches and prototype development, which prompted me to reflect on the relationship between sketches and prototypes.

  • After completing the product design, I am extending my role past designing the physical product. I used communication design to help me tell the story of the product to pass its use and value to the end-user. So, I made a logo design, poster design and brochure design.

    • Artefacts

    • Select Bibliography

    1. Engvall, G, Lindh, V, Mullaney, T, Nyholom, T, Lindh, J & Angstrom-Brannstrom, C 2018, ‘Children’s experiences and responses towards an intervention for psychological preparation for radiotherapy’, Radiation Oncology, vol. 13, no.9, viewed 9 September 2020, Springer Nature database.

    2. Buxton, B 2010, Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. 1st ed. San Francisco, Calif: Morgan Kaufmann.

    Filed under

    Service Design

    Keywords

    Service Design

    Children

    Healthcare waiting room

    homely and playful

    Contact

    1240210052@qq.com, (mailto:s3614974@student.rmit.edu.au text: s3614974@student.rmit.edu.au)