Best in Category: Connecting
Interaction Awards 2020
‘Enhans’ is a system designed to improve doctor-patient communication within the NeuroImaging and Interventional Radiology (NIIR) Department at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India. Being an institute of eminence, NIMHANS receives a large amount of patients from all over the country. Due to their different socio-economic backgrounds and the fact that they speak several different regional languages, it is often difficult for patients to communicate efficiently with the doctors. On a daily basis, both doctors and patients are faced with several challenges that lead to miscommunication and inhibit the patient from being able to take informed decisions about their treatment.
‘Enhans’ is a system designed to improve doctor-patient communication within the NeuroImaging and Interventional Radiology (NIIR) Department at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India.
Being an institute of eminence, NIMHANS receives a large amount of patients from all over the country. Due to their different socio-economic backgrounds and the fact that they speak several different regional languages, it is often difficult for patients to communicate efficiently with the doctors. On a daily basis, both doctors and patients are faced with several challenges that lead to miscommunication and inhibit the patient from being able to take informed decisions about their treatment.
Enhans consists of a collection of interventions that are designed to reduce miscommunication between doctors and patients. The interventions include animated explainer videos, audiovisual consent forms, interactive pamphlets, and an application that holds all the collaterals together.
The multilingual explainer videos, which are currently available in English, Hindi, and Kannada, provide an introduction to the anatomy of the brain and details about diagnosis and treatment of the condition. As this general information can be consumed by the patient in a language in which they are comfortable, the doctor can focus more attention on explaining the specifics of their particular case.
The consent forms at the hospital are only available in English as of now, making it difficult for many patients to understand its terms. Our audiovisual alternative translates the form into Hindi and Kannada while narrating its contents in both languages. Since the voiceover uses colloquial terms to simplify the form, this intervention enables patients to access this information and ask more informed questions of the doctors and nurses.
The pamphlet is designed as a visual aid to be used when the doctor is speaking to the patient and their family. While explaining a complex condition, the doctor can write and draw on the templates in the pamphlet, making it easier for the patient to visualise and understand the treatment process. The intention here was to increase engagement and information retention within this one-on-one interaction.
Each of these interventions has been designed in order to solve a particular challenge when it comes to doctor-patient communication at NIMHANS. While informed consent, clarity about treatment, and better understanding are outcomes of the interventions, the intention of each is to help bridge the gaps created by miscommunication. Whether used individually or as part of the entire system, these interventions help facilitate communication between doctors and patients at NIMHANS, thus making Enhans an appropriate entry for the category ‘Connecting’.
More information about our design research and process can be found at www.enhans.co.in
