Andrea Everman

portfolio

case studies + projects

  1. Data insights for rare patient cohorts
  2. Onboarding redesign for Providence
  3. Work2BeWell teen mental health project
  4. Air as a service concept for Carrier
  5. Comics as a patient communication tool

about

Andrea Everman is a design strategist in Seattle with over six years experience leading design research and product development. She has a master of design degree (MDes) in human centered design from ID at IIT and enjoys mapping processes and understanding human behavior.


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5. Comics as a patient communication tool
University of Chicago’s Silver Cross Radiation Clinic: 

Communicating the External Beam Radiotherapy Experience (CEBRE)




Cancer patients receiving radiation treatment are overwhelmed with information about the treatment process. Could a different form of communication help? Dr. Daniel Golden, MD MHPE, from the Department of Radiation Oncology at the RUSH University Medical Center reached out to the Institute of Design at IIT for new ways to educate patients and help them prepare. 

ID at IIT faculty research project led by professor Tomoko Ichikawa
This work was published in the medical journal Practical Radiation Oncology / Astro in 2020


Project goals

Decrease the overall level of anxiety patients may have before, during, and after radiation treatment through an improved explanation of the process

Project steps


Site visit at the radiation clinic
data points from interviews with patients, caregivers, and medical staff

    Design Principles 
    • Patient-centered 
    • Help anticipate possible needs to reduce surprises
    • Visualize what’s coming next in journey to help decrease anxiety
    • Empower patient to be an active participant in conversation
    • Allow patients to reference information throughout their journey
    • Promote positive relationship between physician and patient to improve care delivery
    • Relatable across multiple organizations and geographies (for use outside of U of CD)
    Design constraints for form and content
    • Printing and assembly requires standard equipment and minimal time
    • Illustrations are relatable to patients
    • Text at a fifth grade reading level

    Once a rough outline was created for the content and structure of a patient guide, the team explored the different visual styles of comics and tested with patient feedback

    early sketch
    The layout provides visual emphasis and pacing
    Full size prototype




    Final Design



    The treatment discussion guide
    Recording treatment details to reference later
    The ‘Communicating the External Beam Radiotherapy Experience (CEBRE)’ discussion guide is now printed and in use at multiple clinics. 
    After this general guide was developed, seven other versions of the CEBRE discussion guide were developed to focus on treating Lung, Breast, Prostate, Head/Neck, CNS, and GI disease sites. 

    Publication information on NIH’s National Library of Medicine
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7064379/

    Link to the Radiation Oncology Education Study Group for video presentations and more info about this project
    https://roecsg.org/cebre/