Communication Design

MAKING DATA EXPLORABLE, ACTIONABLE TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY RESEARCH

Communication Support on Young Adult Mental Health Issue in Chicago

Sponsored Project | Communication Design

SocialWorks is a Chicago-based, non-profit organization that funds to increase access to mental health services for youth. We helped SocialWorks create visualizations to make mental health resources more equitable and accessible to both public and private audiences in the area of mental health care access.

Context

SocialWorks sponsored the topic in the Communication Design Workshop course.

Aug 2021 - Dec 2021 (12 weeks)

Team

Subin Kim
Sun Park
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The Class of IDN 550

My role

Building Interview Protocol
Implementing Interview
Interview Synthesis
Information Design
Prototyping

If you’re a person who is unable to find a resource that invites you in, or if you’re not able to communicate to the various circles you are in, how are you supposed to navigate this system effectively?
We need to think about how we can invite you into a space where there’s less stigma and jargon than you’re accustomed to.

-Justin Cunningham, Executive Director of SocialWorks

Our Mission

Creating audience-aligned data visualizations to help explore various aspects of mental health resources and content for community-engaged young adults.

Process

Knowledge acquisition
Through secondary research, we understand what do young adults care about in terms of mental health as it pertains to their community and how is mental health experienced by young adult.

Primary Research
We interviewed 8 people, 4 young adults and 4 mental health care experts.
Each protocol was created to interview the 2 different stakeholders, and the questionnaire was written differently depending on the individual background and work.

Insight discoveries
We organized our thoughts by extracting quotes and insights from the interviews and putting them into a framework.

Insight clusters
By synthesizing and clustering insights, we defined what kinds of visualizations are needed and discovered design opportunities.

Visualization
After creating the initial visualization, we were able to get feedback from mental health experts and based on that we iterated the design refinement.

Presentation to Social Works
We made a final presentation to the project client, Social Works, and received positive feedback.

Define a Problem

8.8 million young adults reported having a mental illness and 42% of those with mental illness went untreated.

Millions of young adults are living with a mental or substance use disorder and many either do not realize they have one or are not paying attention to the signs and not seeking help. And even if they realize, it is difficult to find a therapist customized to one's culture, economic background, and specific illness give the lack of resources currently available.

That's why we worked with SocialWorks, to simplify access to holistic health services including mental health resources in an equitable manner to local communities in Chicago. Based on research with young adults and mental health experts, we provided communication support for young adults to help explore various aspects of mental health resources and content.

Interview & Qualitative Analysis

To onboard the topic and understand the challenges, we conducted secondary and primary research with 4 community-engaged young adult leaders and 4 mental health care service providers. Based on interview transcripts, we analyzed them using the qualitative data analysis methods(we used 5E to code the interview scripts and 5A to cluster them).

Interview Discoveries

Then we looked at the relationships among the insights and consolidated the insights into a larger theme. Through this process, we were able to understand what obstacles and challenges young adults have and what they need.

Insight Map

Influence Model

Identifying Challenges

User & Context Requirement

Challenge 1
Presenting mental health information in a way to make it approachable
Navigating the insurance system is confusing for people and trying to find clinics and therapists that fit with is difficult.

Challenge 2
Equity matters for mental health
Marginalized groups are more likely to experience poor mental health care and they are lack of resources how they can access essential care.

Challenge 3
Process of arising mental health awareness/education
‍Many people do not know the terms related to mental health as well as what kind of condition they are and what kind of treatment they need.

Contents Requirement

Challenge 1
Using accessible language and supportive description
Some people find it difficult to understand graphs or visual information, so additional explanations or clear guidance are needed.

Challenge 2
Colorful design but not overwhelming
Mental health related information should be playful and colorful rather than static and serious, making people want to consume more information.

Challenge 3
Clear guidance on available resources
Clinics offer a variety of treatments based on resources and priorities. All of them have their own specialties, but the provision of such information is insufficient.

Our Focus

Based on the data Social Works provided us, we realized that out of 3,580 clinics in Chicago, only 51 mental health clinics accept Medicaid insurance. Interviewing young adults and mental health professionals, we found that many people are looking for affordable facilities and clinics that would accept Medicaid insurance plans.

But we realized that people had to search for a medical professional's last name or group care name one by one. So with this handheld printout, people can more clearly see which clinic is closest to their home and which clinic provides the specific care they need.

Design Development

Sketch

At first, we intended to create interactive information board served by website or kiosk screen.

However, in consideration of the audiences, it has been changed from a digital format to a booklet format to increase accessibility and portability. We hope that this booklet will be distributed in public schools and student unions to serve as a guide for young people who wish to or need to contact a mental health care provider.

Prototype & Quick Test

Through several prototypes and rapid testing phases, we developed the information structure of the brochure. This allowed us to figure out how to build better structures that are readable and effectively navigate multi-layered content.

Design Iteration

Final Deliverable

Intent
Medicaid-accepted mental health clinics are critical to providing more people with the opportunity to get the care they need. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find the appropriate clinics for Medicaid holders. By using this portable booklet, Medicaid patients can find affordable and needed specialty care, and mental health counselors can guide them.

Design Details

This booklet shows the information on how many Medicaid-accepted clinics are located in which area of the city of Chicago and what specific specialty care they offer. All the mental health care programs provided by clinics are categorized into seven specialty types, and the total number of those are shown per community, respectively.

Reflections

#1 There is a difference in diagram comprehension from people to people.
‍The most common feedback people gave when seeing our first prototype was that it might not be easy for people who need Medicaid insurance to understand the data just by looking at the diagram. We learned from this that a detailed supportive description may be required, or more intuitive information may be required depending on the recipient of the information.

#2 Different communication channels should be considered according to the purpose, person, and situation.
We had two main targets in providing information: policy makers and mental health counselors in public schools. I learned that other communication channels such as digital platform, printed material, and face-to-face communication can be used according to target people and information and this greatly affects information delivery.

#3 In fact, data visualization itself greatly increases the accessibility of information.
Even if it is information that people can find one by one, providing it in a format that is easier to access can be of great help to people. It not only reduces their search time, but also makes them more interested in information and has the effect of passing it on to the people around them.