We began with secondary research to understand health education challenges, impacts of low literacy, social determinants of health, and congenital heart defects. This gave us a working knowledge of the space to begin benchmarking education systems within healthcare and noncompetitive industries, paper-based education, and iconography styles for communicating critical information.
Our primary research aimed to understand the treatment process and educational preferences of both clinicians and family members. We conducted 14 focus groups across three phases, guiding the project from initial research to the final concept. Early findings revealed that discharge is a highly stressful time for families due to inconsistent instructions, environmental factors, and time constraints. Tangible, printed reference materials are key as families are often overwhelmed with information.
We engaged with each stakeholder group to identify the most important content, determine the guide's structure, and prioritize information for different stages of the treatment process. Ultimately, stakeholders chose a pocket guide due to its convenient size, making it easy to fit in a diaper bag and share with other caregivers, and ability to provide more detailed information without the bulk of a binder.
The final guide is organized into three sections: before, during, and after surgery. Each section includes a pocket (shown in green above)for storing additional printed materials caregivers might receive, a notes area, and icons representing key information. The project developed a focus on low literacy — we developed, tested, and refined these icons to ensure clarity. All written content was created with health educators and is designed at a4th-grade reading level.
