+ACUMEN

HCD WORKSHOP
15
R E A D I N G S
--
--
--
[ ! E Case S tudy:
Jacaranda Health
+ACUMEN
HCD WORKSHOP
16
JA CA R A N D A HE A LTH
US I G A HUMA N -CE N TE R E D D E S I G
A PR OA CH TO PR OVI D E LI FE S A VI N G CA R E
Each year 250,000women inAfricado not survivechildbirth. Neither do their babies. Yet
nearly all maternal and infant mortality ispreventable with access to skilledproviders, well-
equipped facilities, and rapid diagnosis and treatment of obstetric complications. J acaranda
Health aims to provide affordable, accessible lifesavingcare to pregnant women and their
babies inNairobi, Kenya. Todo this, they are taking ahuman-centered design approach.
Nick Pearson, Founder of J acaranda Health,
was introduced to human-centered design
when he worked at Acumen in Nairobi.
"I served as the local liaison for the IDEO team
on the Ripple Effect project. We were looking
at ways to improve storage and transport
of water, and it was incredibly impressive
watching the IDEO team in action."
Bad patient experience is one of the major
reasons that women in Kenya avoid giving
birth in hospitals and other birth facilities.
The vast majority of women who participated
in J acaranda's field research in Nairobi
complained of long waits, poortreatmentfrom
nurses, crowded labor wards, and difficulty
getting education and birth-preparedness
counseling. This issue is one ofthe biggest
hurdles to increasing deliveries at facilities.
"Over the last year and ahalf, we have held
design sessions with groups of prospective
patients and nurses to get their help in
developing our model of care." One such
session involved nurse role-playing. InGroup
One, two women were chosen to act out a
typical interaction between aclinician and a
patient, first in apublic facility and then in a
private one. The group then discussed the
differences in behavior thatthey saw, and were
asked questions about why these differences
exist and how patients would prefer to be
+ACUMEN
HCD WORKSHOP
17
treated. InGroup Two,two mothers were
askedto role-play "good" and"bad" clinical
nurses, drawing upon their own experiences,
or those offriends andfamily. The participants
and audience members t endiscussed their
experiences.
Butnot all design sessions proved asinsightful.
"Anappealing principle isthat the end user(in
our casethe patient) knows the best answer to
adesign challenge," saysNick. "But sometimes
patients find itchallenging to imagine ahealth
service beyond whatthey've experienced in
poor-quality public hospitals. Forexample, we
did a'sketchyour ideal waiting room' exercise,
andafter complaining ofthe poor waiting
roomexperience inpublic hospitals, almost
all participants drewsomething that looked
exactly likeapublic hospital waiting room.
Itcanbedifficult sometimes to knowhowto
balance end-user input andfresh ideas from
outsiders.
"Involving our patients indesigning their own
care gives J acaranda acompetitive advantage
over other facilities. Butjust asimportantly, it
letsthe women of Nairobi design the maternity
carethey want, sothat more of themwill seek
skilled care, resulting inhealthier outcomes for
mothers and babies."
Curious to learn more about J acaranda Health?
Visit: http://jacarandahealth.org