Enhancing the pediatric cancer discharge process to support patient families.

Students: Ashley Boone, Kathy Bui, Laura Meng, Melissa Pao
Project sponsored by:  Seattle Children's Hospital

Pediatric cancer families can stay in the hospital for months receiving treatment. The discharge process can be stressful for families because they are then solely responsible for their child’s care. We created a guided worksheet that will help patient families produce a schedule for their first week at home after discharge. This activity promotes proactive planning, helps surface gaps in knowledge, consolidates important information, and acts as a reference for families after leaving the hospital. Our process included background research around the problem space, interviews with patient families and nurses to better understand their experiences with the discharge process, data analysis to surface findings, ideation, and design.