MIT HACKING RACISM IN HEALTHCARE - 2020 WINNER
Empowering BIPOC through community based health education.
BIPOC are unfairly at a disadvantage when it comes to health literacy due to barriers in access caused by socio-economic status stemming from colonialism, systemic racism and bias within the healthcare community. How can we create a solution to connect people on a community level and empower people to take ownership of their health education?
In 48 hours, my team ideated a community based program with supporting app that would engage people at the local level and give BIPOC instant access to health resources and connect them with groups in their community that discuss topics such as generational trauma, racism in healthcare, PTSD, and fireside chats with professionals in the industry.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Our track was Social Justice and Policy and pertained to discriminatory procedures, practices and policies that exist within healthcare institutions.
BIPOC are unfairly at a disadvantage when it comes to healthcare literacydue to barriers in access caused by socio-economic status stemming from colonialism, systemic racism & bias.
How can we address the historical trauma that these communities have faced and still face within healthcare and how can healthcare professionals learn and implement new approaches and methodologies to communicate, listen and care for these communities in a way that is culturally relevant and responsive?
We refined this initial idea to move forward with a more clear scope.
THE
SOLUTION
Let’s implement a program to empower BIPOC individuals at the community level and increase access to health literacy & resources by partnering with community orgs; To make this program accessible we will launch our free app HealthForce.
ABOUT
THE PEOPLE
While I typically do not create personas, the judges at MIT wanted to see how we conducted research and arrived at our potential user base.
Our personas were created from a compilation of personal stories and experiences from the team as well as extended friends and family. We would specifically focus on BIPOC communities and reaching out at local community centers, cultural centers and potentially faith based centers. HealthForce, currently renamed LumenHealth will focus on the individual and connecting them to healthcare resources that they may otherwise not have access to.
Our app will engage a wider audience in the digital space. Due to rising health concerns in younger generations we aim to increase life span and wellbeing of individuals by providing them access to immediate resources. The HealthForce app serves as a support to the program we would implement within communities and will help to engage younger generations and get them interested in their healthcare.
Currently we are using Dallas, Texas as our launch area and conducting user research to refine and define our understanding of who this is for.
THE PROCESS
Empathy
Define
Ideate
Interviews
Screener survey
Personas
Competitive Analysis
MVP
User flows
Problem
Scope
Scalability
Solution
Sketches
Prototype
Hi-Fi Prototype
User flow
Test
Interviews
Implement
In progress
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
JUDGE'S FEEDBACK
The proposal would have a significant impact on the community, I like the solution that the team attempts to address. I would like to see how the application is marketed and promoted. There are a lot of partnerships and relationship building that is needed.
The small pilot for the program is a good idea to build trust with the BIPOC community. Kind of like a three legged stool to ensure pull through and ensure continuity of sample group participation.