Noa Ben Nun | Design Research
Holistic Continuity of Care: The Missing Piece in Women’s Journey to Relief in Vulvar Pain
Bachelor Thesis
Project Summary
Project Type
University project
Individual work
Swiss Design Association award nominee
Skills & Tools
Literature review, system mapping, in-depth interviews, problem mapping, journey mapping, competitor analysis, solution ideation, service design, concept testing, risk analysis.
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Software: Miro, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro,
Adobe illustrator
The Challenge
How might we promote care continuity for the relief of vulvar pain and better well-being of women with vulvodynia?
Process and Outcome
Vulvodynia is a chronic vulvar pain condition that is frequently associated with diagnostic delay. Living with pain in a body part so intrinsically linked to sex and sexuality has overarching negative consequences on women’s well-being. Moreover, the condition has no visible cause, and hence, it makes medical encounters difficult for both women and healthcare providers.
3 minute thesis presentation
The design process implemented throughout the thesis included five main phases:
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Exploration 1.0: literature review and system mapping to understand the context of the problem. Primary qualitative research based on in-depth interviews with an expert, three gynecologists, and five women who cope with vulvodynia.
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Analysis: analysis of information gathered through in-depth interviews using journey mapping and thematic analysis. The findings allowed the establishment of a new problem definition.
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Ideation: co-design session with five women who cope with vulvar pain, sharing the established insights and ideating new interventions together.
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Exploration 2.0: literature review about case management in healthcare and conversations with relevant professionals about it (nurses and a social worker working as case managers).
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Prototyping and Testing: three iterations of prototyping and testing of the service blueprint with relevant stakeholders.
Process visualization
The thesis reveals a lack of holistic care continuity as the missing piece in the care provided to women with vulvodynia. Holistic continuity of care is found to be based on good communication between patients and healthcare providers, as well as awareness of vulvar pain conditions among healthcare providers.
The thesis takes a service design approach to suggest how the care process in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) should be provided. The service incorporates a case manager nurse to coordinate healthcare delivery; and accompany women on their journey to the relief of vulvar pain and to achieving better well-being. Moreover, they act to raise healthcare providers’ awareness of vulvodynia and provide education for optimal patient-provider communication during medical encounters. Finally, they promote efficient use of healthcare resources and enhance cost-effective interventions at HMOs.
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Project Deliverables: Thesis and Poster
Final thesis
Final thesis poster
Credits
“Folder podcast” icon used on the home page is by Adriansyah from Noun Project.
“Challenge” icon used on the home page is by iconixar from Noun Project.
“Project” icon used on the home page is by Adriansyah from Noun Project.