It’s not everyday I turn to our readers for their help, but I’m going to do so with the first design challenge Psych Central has entered. Along with my colleague and regular Psych Central contribute (and an “Ask the Therapist”) Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D., we’ve submitted an entry we’d like you to vote for.
Your vote matters, so please, take the 20 seconds it takes to vote for our entry now (sorry it’s not obvious, but the voting form is at the very bottom of the entry… so keep scrolling!).
If you’d like to read more about our thinking and entry behind the challenge, click through…
When I heard about the Design Challenge from the Scattergood Foundation, I felt it was right up our alley. After all, we’ve been providing mental health information and screenings for 19 years to millions around the world. How cool would it be to provide the same independent, quality resources to people who visit a retail clinic in a pharmacy?
Very cool.
So I enlisted the help of my trusted colleague Dr. Hartwell-Walker to help brainstorm the form and function of how best to reach this population. A tablet seemed liked an obvious, convenient way to do this, because it can be used for both reading and interactivity.
Because retail clinics are pretty scarce on having free space available, we nixed the idea of providing any kind of direct person-to-person interactions. We felt like it was unlikely a retail clinic could set aside private space (like an exam room) for such consultations. Without privacy, it’s unlikely many people would take up any opportunity for even a virtual consultation.
But we can provide people with information on whether they have any immediate mental health concerns through a general screening, and specific, condition-specific screenings. We have dozens of such screenings that have been taken by millions over the years, so it would be a simple thing to make these available to retail clinic customers.
Partnering with other organizations slows innovation, as you need to get both organizations or companies to approve the implementation and scope of your proposed solution. That’s why we chose to not partner with anyone on this submission, as we feel we have all the technical and mental health abilities in-house to provide this intervention quickly and in a stream-lined manner.
We hope you like what we came up with — a simple, easy-to-use tablet computer that connects to a special website we will develop if we win the Challenge. It will offer health and mental health information, screening quizzes, and a referral database to a professional who can provide additional guidance and assistance.
It’s simple, easy to implement and maintain, and is innovative in putting resources into the hands of people that — for whatever reason — might not be able to access them otherwise. Plus, if you’re waiting for your flu shot while at the retail clinic, you may be more likely to pick up something like a tablet just to check it out.
We believe we can expand our mission and reach by offering this device to retail clinics across the country. We hope you can help us do this by voting now for our entry, and “Like” the submission on Facebook too. Thanks!
Vote for our entry now! QCare iHealthPad: Health/Mental Health Tablet Education & Screening
1 comment
I voted!!
If this is implemented, I would suggest using a tablet or device with a privacy film or screen. No one wants to sit in a tiny waiting area with people reading over your shoulder. A privacy screen keeps content visible only at certain angles. (I don’t like it when waiting room people even peek at what I’m reading in a magazine!)
Hopefully, your app or website would have a button that the user could click on that says “Do you need to speak privately with a doctor now about a mental health concern?” This would then privately alert a staff member that a patient needs immediate assistance.
I’m a designer by profession and UI design intrigues me.