Stacey Chang thinks the solution to the nation’s health care dilemma may be found in the humanities.
Chang, an associate partner and director of IDEO’s Health & Wellness practice, spoke in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Thursday evening in his presentation “Humanity in Health Care: Rediscovering our Roots.” The presentation described how the intersection of design and health care can better the experience of people seeking medical attention.
“If you’re not pursuing a human need, there won’t be success,” he said.
He told the audience a story of a negative experience he had regarding health care and a doctor who did not seem to care or respect him. Chang said incidences such as this one happen when doctors lose sight of why they are doctors. He said they “get the creativity knocked out of them.”
Taylor Lybbert, a graduate student in business administration and public relations, said changes need to be made in health care to empower patients.
That is Chang’s purpose in IDEO. He said health care is “complex,” but when breaking it down there are only two parts involved: people needing care and people giving care. Over time, he said, the human component of medical care has vanished, turning the practice into a business.
“In returning humanity to health care we have the opportunity to solve some of the problems that we face,” Chang said.
IDEO aims to resolve the multi-faceted problems of patient care by reintroducing a human element into health visits. For instance, Chang said some patients feel they do not have a compassionate and effective recovery. In order to solve this problem IDEO came up with the Journey Home Board, enabling nurses to talk one-on-one with post-delivery mothers about their recovery process.
“The reason it’s really valuable is the nurses can go in the room and actually talk to the patients,” Chang said.
Their returning veterans project focused on building homes accessible to returning veterans who were injured in war. Previous homes for veterans were designed like institutions, Chang said. IDEO incorporated health elements, like handlebars, into the design of the furniture to assist disabled veterans without looking like a doctor’s office.
Adam Vaughn, a graduate student in international affairs and global enterprise, said the country hit its peak and is now becoming too relaxed with health care.
“We need to renovate and get back to culture,” Vaughn said.
Brantley Eason, a graduate student in international affairs and global enterprise, said “The system itself needs to be improved … we’re stuck in a rut.”
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