The Caregiver Kiosk
In this 12 week client-based course project, my team (6 members in total) was tasked with finding an innovative solution to enrich the experiences of caregivers and family members of residents at St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre.
Our solution idea is the Caregiver Kiosk, an interactive kiosk system designed to empower caregivers with on-demand access to key information about their loved one's care and St. Joseph's facility. The Caregiver Kiosk sets out to support caregivers in navigating the complexities of long-term care.
Role
Lead Designer
Researcher
Key Presenter
Timeline
Jan - April 2024
Skills
Design-thinking
User Research
Prototyping
Usability Testing
UI Design
Info Architecture
Tools
Figma
Optimal Workshop
St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre
Not for profit long-term care (LTC) home in Brantford
Provide care and residential facilities for those whose needs cannot be met within the community
Typically for reasons such as old-age, disabilities, and other health conditions
Caregivers and Family:
Visitors designated by residents
Support residents through cognitive, emotional , and physical support
May help with mobility, feeding, and hygiene
Important for improving quality of life of residents
Project Goal and Problem Statement
Our task was to improve the experience of being a caregiver of a loved one at St. Joseph’s
Focus Areas:
How might we address caregiver and family concerns?
How might we mitigate caregiver's worries about needs being met?
How might we help caregivers monitor the wellbeing of loved ones?
We looked at 4 other LTC homes in the Brantford area and discovered that St. Joseph’s was already following most of the best practices identified in improving caregiver relations. These included:
Family Events
Family Spaces
Newsletters / Bulletin Boards
Family Council
Educational packages
Support groups
We also looked at other instances where the care of a loved one is relinquished into the hands of a facility/organization (Sickkids, Military, Education & Child Care, Correctional Facilities and Mental Health & Rehabilitation Services). This analysis gave rise to several opportunities for innovation and differentiation, including:
Specialized and Innovative Family Spaces
Specialized Classes
Mobile Platforms to enhance communication
Focusing on Caregiver Mental and Physical Wellness
Easing Transportation Burden
Family Mentorship Programs
Communication
Not being heard or getting hold of important contacts
Being passed from one staff member to another when raising a concern or asking a question
Concerns and questions not being addressed
Staff
Short-staffing concerns and worries
Frequent staff changes/rotations impacting caregiver-staff relationship
Frequent staff changes/rotations making it difficult to determine who to direct questions to
Feelings and Emotions
Emotional difficulty relinquishing care
Struggle to be an “expert” in LTC
Worries about ensuring proper care
The Advocate
A caregiver whose loved one is unable to voice their own needs
Feels helpless when staff don’t respond to inquiries
Struggles to build relationships with frequently changing staff
The Initiate
A caregiver who is new to the world of long-term care (LTC)
Unfamiliar with LTC
Unfamiliar with who to contact in the LTC home
Struggles emotionally to relinquish care
The Protector
A caregiver who is not able to visit as frequently as they'd like to
Worries about ensuring proper care
Struggle establishing connections with frequently changing staff
The Busy Bee
A caregiver who is also balancing a full-time job and raising children
Struggles to balance responsibilities
Values good relationships with staff and clear communication
Recognizing that there were various solutions and constraints outside of our ability (such as short-staffing), we shifted our focus to caregiver empowerment to better equip caregivers with resources that streamline and support better communication and staff connections, while helping ease worries.
The kiosk system would provide on-demand access to information such as:
Daily staff list
Care plan details
Contact directory of St. Joseph’s
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Roles list / organizational hierarchy
Meals and activities
Our Goals to Improve Communication, Connections with Staff, and Emotional Difficulty:
A daily staff list would help build the caregiver-staff connection as caregiver's will stay updated about who is working with their loved one
Care plan access would help keep caregivers informed about their loved one’s care
A contact directory, FAQ, and roles list would help orient caregivers in this new world of LTC
A contact directory would help caregivers know exactly who they need to get in touch with, preventing them being passed from staff member to another
Showing scheduled meals and activities would help caregivers know what their loved ones are up to within St. Joseph’s
Aspects Users Liked:
Daily staff list
FAQ
Contact directory
Ideas/Suggestions:
Including a digital Covid-19 screener to replace the physical paper form that often created a bottleneck effect when entering the facility
Including outbreak notices
Including meal serving times
Including reception/calling hours
Questions:
Who would have access?
Having multiple kiosks?
Constructive Criticism:
Concerns about physical crowding of where the kiosk is placed
A want for access from home
Positive Feedback:
Liked being informed about loved one’s care
Pleasant interface design
Content was informative
Covid-19 screener was perceived as more efficient than the current method
Outbreak Notices:
Participants thought outbreak information needed to be more pronounced
Suggestions included changing the colour from yellow to red
Information Architecture:
Problems delineating Care team, Contact Directory, and Roles List sections
Interface Design:
Minor issues in signifying the interactivity of buttons
Accessibility Features:
Wanted to see more language options
Suggested a help button in case they are stuck
Home Screen
Included accessibility and help options
Refined labels and descriptions to enhance information scent
Applied drop shadows to better indicate interactivity
Before
After
Outbreak Notice
Emphasized outbreak notice with colour, further details, and order of appearance
Before
After
Button Design
Applied drop shadows to better indicate interactivity
Utilized elevated surfaces to provide an affordance elements could be pressed down
Before
After
Introducing: The Caregiver Kiosk
An interactive kiosk system designed to empower caregivers with on-demand access to key information about their loved one's care and St. Joseph's facility. The Caregiver Kiosk sets out to support caregivers in navigating the complexities of long-term care.
Get access to key information about your loved one's care with the scan of a key tag to sign-in
“Visually clean. I like the contrast between white and black, and the blue is nice”
Real user quote
Have a concern or question? Find the exact person you need to get in touch with
Figure out who does what in your loved one's care so you know where to address questions or concerns
Streamline your Covid-19 screening process when entering St. Joseph's
See what staff are working with your loved one today so you know who to get in touch with
Keep track of your loved one's care plan by getting your own copy
“If I printed [the care plan] out I could know that they changed my mom’s catheter.”
Real user quote
See what activities and meals are lined up in your loved one’s schedule
“[The meals section] would be good because my mom won’t remember what she ate today. And with this I can ask her if she liked her oatmeal.”
Real user quote
Select your language of choice
Things I'd do next:
1
Explore and improve user flows through usability testing with a high-fidelity prototype
2
As a designer, explore incorporating more imagery in the UI to evoke more positive emotions and enhance visual aesthetics
3
Launch a pilot program to better observe users' interactions in a more naturalized environment
How I'd measure success:
1
Minimum task success rate
2
Time-on-task benchmarks
3
Qualitative feedback through comments or usability rating scales
4
User adoption rate