Patient centred healing

Slánú

Slánú

Meet Slánú !


Slánú is a holistic patient centred series of recovery tools for limb trauma patients. Slánú consists of a patient centred book documenting patients journeys from hospital to at home care. A separate booklet for caregivers to guide them through becoming a caregiver. Finally there is an Augmented Reality app that staff can use to show patients how their injury will heal over time. 


The Brief


Patients who experience traumatic injuries often require emergency surgery and face a long recovery. The Mater Hospital are seeking to develop an educational resource to support these patients and their families during their recovery from major emergency reconstructive limb surgery.

The Slánú Book

The Slanu Book is an educational resource designed to support patients in their healing and overall well-being following limb trauma surgery. It provides standardized information alongside dedicated sections for patients to record personalized notes and for medical staff to document updates and insights.


By serving as a centralized hub for relevant information, the Slanu Book enhances patient experience and facilitates seamless communication between hospital departments. This collaborative approach fosters clarity between patients and healthcare professionals, ultimately reducing anxiety and improving the quality of care throughout the recovery journey.


The Caregivers Guide

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.


The Caregivers Guide

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.



The Caregivers Guide

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.

Augmented Reality Healing


Since patients often cannot see their wounds due to bandaging, they may struggle to grasp their recovery progress. This AR tool provides a realistic visual representation of how wounds heal, helping to manage expectations and reduce the shock when bandages are removed.


Additionally, the app shows patients what their fully healed limb will look like, motivating them to stay engaged in their recovery, including physiotherapy. By offering a clearer understanding of their injuries, the Slanu App empowers patients and encourages active participation in the healing process.

Additionally, the app shows patients what their fully healed limb will look like, motivating them to stay engaged in their recovery,


including physiotherapy. By offering a clearer understanding of their injuries, the Slanu App empowers patients and encourages active participation in the healing process.

Augmented Reality Healing

The Caregivers Guide

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.


The Caregivers Guide

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.


Augmented Reality Healing


Meet Slánú !


Slánú is a holistic patient centred series of recovery tools for limb trauma patients. Slánú consists of a patient centred book documenting patients journeys from hospital to at home care. A separate booklet for caregivers to guide them through becoming a caregiver. Finally there is an Augmented Reality app that staff can use to show patients how their injury will heal over time. 

Additionally, the app shows patients what their fully healed limb will look like, motivating them to stay engaged in their recovery,


including physiotherapy. By offering a clearer understanding of their injuries, the Slanu App empowers patients and encourages active participation in the healing process.

Since patients often cannot see their wounds due to bandaging, they may struggle to grasp their recovery progress. This AR tool provides a realistic visual representation of how wounds heal, helping to manage expectations and reduce the shock when bandages are removed.


Additionally, the app shows patients what their fully healed limb will look like, motivating them to stay engaged in their recovery, including physiotherapy. By offering a clearer understanding of their injuries, the Slanu App empowers patients and encourages active participation in the healing process.

Augmented Reality
Healing

The Caregiver’s Guide is a dedicated resource designed to help caregivers support their loved ones while also taking care of themselves. Separate from the patient booklet, it provides essential guidance without including crucial patient-specific details, ensuring that patients without caregivers are not put at a further disadvantage .


The guide covers fundamental topics, such as what items to bring to the hospital, helping caregivers feel prepared and easing the stress of the initial hospital visit. It also highlights the importance of encouraging patient independence, cautioning against excessive assistance that could inadvertently hinder recovery.


The guide also highlights the importance of caregiver well-being, offering stress management strategies and access to support groups, counseling services, and respite care. By equipping caregivers with the right tools, this guide helps them navigate their role with confidence and balance.

The development behind Slánú

Research


Patient interviews
Staff interviews
Staff shadowing
Surgical observation
Focus Groups
Surveys

Refine

Sythasize data
Storyboard
Prototype
Patient Journey Map
Empathy Map
Card Sorting

Realise

App Screens
User Test
Visual design
Book design
Service Blueprint
Client Delivery

Research

Research

Patient Interviews

I conducted interviews with eight individuals who had undergone reconstructive limb surgery, ensuring a diverse group of patients to remain as inclusive as possible. I spoke with patients at various stages of recovery, ranging from one week to up to one year post-accident. This gave me a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges patients face at each stage of their healing process.

Staff Interviews

I conducted interviews with a diverse range of staff members involved in trauma patient recovery. Meeting with such a wide group has provided me with valuable insights into both the patient and staff experiences. It is crucial that the resources I create support the staff effectively without adding to their already heavy workload.

Refine

Patient Journeys

I have collaborated with both patients and staff members to create an accurate patient journey map, outlining the various stages of recovery. This ensures a comprehensive and realistic representation of the healing process from both medical and patient perspectives

Paper based

I created a paper-based resources because many of patients come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, with some living in homeless accommodations. Assuming access to smartphones or internet services would be unrealistic and potentially exclusionary. By providing paper-based materials, it ensures that all patients, regardless of their economic situation, have equal access to essential health information.


Additionally, paper-based resources can be easily referenced at any time without relying on technology or internet connectivity. This is particularly important in medical settings, where quick, reliable access to information can significantly impact patient outcomes.

Accessiblity

I collaborated with a group of speech and language therapists to ensure the language used throughout the book is plain, accessible, and aligned with NALA guidelines. This approach ensures the content is easily understood by all readers, making it more inclusive for patients with varying literacy levels. Additionally, the book incorporates illustrations to help convey important information visually, supporting those who may struggle with text-based content.


Recognizing that some patients may feel uncomfortable in healthcare settings, the book also includes prompts and encouragements to empower them to speak up and ask questions. These strategically placed prompts reassure patients that they should feel comfortable seeking clarification or additional information.

Realise

Visual Design


Color Palette:


I chose a soft, calming palette to create a soothing, tranquil atmosphere that supports recovery and is gentle on the eyes. I ensured all colours used were accessible by using colour blindness checkers.


Typography:


I used Quasimoda for its readability, with a 12pt minimum font size to ensure clarity, especially for patients with low literacy or visual impairments.


Diversity:


To address the lack of ethnical diversity that is typically seen in medical materials, I included illustrations with varied skin tones, allowing patients from different backgrounds to feel represented.


Representation:


I used different types of shoes to symbolize diverse personalities, types of people and ages to reflect the individuality of patients.


Symbolism:


Shoes also symbolise the recovery journey, representing progress and the ability to move forward and reintergrate back into everyday life the despite injury.

I collaborated with a group of speech and language therapists to ensure the language used throughout the book is plain, accessible, and aligned with NALA guidelines. This approach ensures the content is easily understood by all readers, making it more inclusive for patients with varying literacy levels. Additionally, the book incorporates illustrations to help convey important information visually, supporting those who may struggle with text-based content.


Recognizing that some patients may feel uncomfortable in healthcare settings, the book also includes prompts and encouragements to empower them to speak up and ask questions. These strategically placed prompts reassure patients that they should feel comfortable seeking clarification or additional information.

App Development

The augmented reality app is designed as a staff tool, eliminating the need for patients to have a smartphone. While a video of the AR demonstration with the patient can be shared with them if desired, it is not essential.


The app’s interface is simple and intuitive, ensuring ease of use for staff. The app screens were designed in Figma, while the AR wound models were created in Autodesk Maya, and the AR elements were developed using C++ in Unity. After testing several different AR platforms, I found that Unity provided the best performance and reliability.


Testing and developement


To ensure the effectiveness of the resources I developed, I conducted a thorough testing phase involving both staff and patients. This process helped identify necessary improvements, refine clarity, and enhance usability across the patient book, caregiver’s guide, and augmented reality (AR) app.

Patient Book & Caregiver’s Guide


I tested the patient book and caregiver’s guide with both patients and hospital staff to assess the clarity and usefulness of the information provided. By gathering feedback from individuals at different recovery stages, I was able to determine what content needed to be added and which areas required simplification. To ensure readability, I used the SMOG readability test, making adjustments to the language to enhance accessibility for patients with varying literacy levels. This ensured that critical medical information remained easy to understand without compromising accuracy.


Additionally, I received valuable input from speech and language therapists, who helped refine the language further, ensuring that the content was as inclusive as possible. The caregiver’s guide was also reviewed to ensure that it pr

AR App & AR Cards


The augmented reality (AR) app and AR cards were tested in a clinical setting with medical staff to evaluate their functionality and ease of use. While the AR technology effectively demonstrated the wound healing process, testing revealed a key issue related to sanitation and infection control. Since the AR cards would be used in a hospital setting where hygiene is critical, I determined that plastic card covers were necessary to maintain cleanliness. This allowed the cards to be easily disinfected between uses while ensuring their durability.


The AR app’s interface was also tested for usability, ensuring that hospital staff could navigate it efficiently without extensive training. Feedback from staff highlighted the need for a simple, intuitive design to fit seamlessly into their workflow, which led to refinements in the app’s layout and functionality.

Outcome & Final Adjustments


By conducting these tests with both staff and patients, I was able to make critical refinements that improved the clarity, usability, and practicality of each resource. The patient book and caregiver’s guide were adjusted to be more accessible, while the AR app and cards were optimized for real-world use in a clinical environment. This testing phase was essential in bridging the gap between design and real-world application, ensuring that all three resources effectively support both patients and medical staff.

AR App & AR Cards


The augmented reality (AR) app and AR cards were tested in a clinical setting with medical staff to evaluate their functionality and ease of use. While the AR technology effectively demonstrated the wound healing process, testing revealed a key issue related to sanitation and infection control. Since the AR cards would be used in a hospital setting where hygiene is critical, I determined that plastic card covers were necessary to maintain cleanliness. This allowed the cards to be easily disinfected between uses while ensuring their durability.


The AR app’s interface was also tested for usability, ensuring that hospital staff could navigate it efficiently without extensive training. Feedback from staff highlighted the need for a simple, intuitive design to fit seamlessly into their workflow, which led to refinements in the app’s layout and functionality.


Outcome & Final Adjustments


By conducting these tests with both staff and patients, I was able to make critical refinements that improved the clarity, usability, and practicality of each resource. The patient book and caregiver’s guide were adjusted to be more accessible, while the AR app and cards were optimized for real-world use in a clinical environment. This testing phase was essential in bridging the gap between design and real-world application, ensuring that all three resources effectively support both patients and medical staff.


Early stage prototyping and modelling

Service Blueprint


Now ?

The project was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from both staff and patients at the Mater Hospital. Due to the significant impact it has had, the Mater have been granted funding from the HSE to expand and further develop the initiative, driven by the strong and encouraging reactions from those involved.


Now ?

The project was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from both staff and patients at the Mater Hospital. Due to the significant impact it has had, the Mater have been granted funding from the HSE to expand and further develop the initiative, driven by the strong and encouraging reactions from those involved.

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Fix it now

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