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Walk along, not alone

A board game that helps elderly Chinese immigrants to know about the end of life(EOL) preparation in the Netherlands context. This board game introduces a structured and friendly way to talk about tough EOL topics.

PROJECT

Individual project / Master thesis / Apr-Oct 2020

Collaborated with Pharos

(Dutch Centre of Expertise 

on Health Disparities)

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Click to know about Pharos

KEYWORDS

Social innovation

Cultural sensitive design

Persuasive game design

EOL(End of life)

Background

By giving thoughts to the wishes and boundaries, people can achieve a better-prepared trip towards the final stage of life.

However, the elderly Chinese immigrants residing in the Netherlands are facing challenges in coping with EOL.

Design challenge

The project client, Pharos requires a solution to supports the elderly Chinese immigrants on the EOL preparation. The solution should: 

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- Be easy-to-implement and can be validated with as fewer resources as possible.

- Be sustainable to fit the future context regarding technology and social development.

Project Approach

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SUMMARY,统一

 

系统力量在树林里造路

-show the path

- pick社工做这个指路人

​-搭early-on的gap?

                                                          Discover                                                          

To tackle this complicated social probe, two main questions

were looked into during the research phase: 

1. What the elderly need?

2. What the supporting system can offer?

Ageing towards EOL is like walking in a forest, where the elderly will face the unknowns, fears, and helpless

 "Build an empathy understanding of the elderly" 

The journey of ageing

By pooling professionals' experience and reflections, a general EOL journey of the elderly Chinese immigrants was generated. 

Insights

 

1. Lack of early-on preparation,晚期需求突然增加难度暴涨

发现想准备时候,已经晚了,积重难返

2. Typical challenges for Chinese immigrants

To be continued

Elderly immigrants are the best person to reflect on their own needs, concerns, wishes, and motivations. However, people are often unaware of what exactly these are. Therefore, the 'Contextmapping' method was applied to explore the potentials of supporting EOL preparation. 

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Interviews with Chinese elderly and social workers were conducted at Chinese community and temples which are places frequently visited by the elderly.

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Sensitizing booklets helped the elderly get into the context and reflect on their own experience

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Quotes were picked from the interview results and then clustered into relevant topics

 "Analyze the results" 

The results are presented as the influential factors on EOL preparation and the four representative personas

​浅灰色727171

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 "Generate insights

Insight 1. Lack of early-on intervention results in a challenging last phase

Insight 2. Lack of early-on intervention results in a challenging last phase

Insight 3. Disparities exist within the elderly Chinese immigrant group

Insight 4. The solution should benefit the elderly with different conditions and mindsets.

- Objective: Lack of concrete, reliable guidance (info and knowledge, solution for general issues and typical challenges)

- Subjective: Lack of motivation/positive mind (reduce helpless, empower the elderly)

Conclusion

 "Build a holistic understanding of the supporting system" 

Sketch+

Social workers and volunteers who have years of experience supporting the Chinese elderly

方法:Literature research, desktop research, Experts interview - a holistic understanding

Learn from professionals' empirical experience from in-depth interviews

Stakeholder analysis

1. NL&Chinese 大环境context

medical

legal

social-cultural

​强调gap,差异是什么!

表格对比?

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小结

 

Barriers

To be continued

原生的和获得的

Enablers

To be continued

​产生的影响?

Identify the stakeholders' roles in elderly Chinese immigrants' EOL preparation

机构- 中间人is the bridge -老人

小结

循环关系It is a ‘positive feedback loop'

支持层面

组织通过professionals去apporach the elderly

也需要input from elderly, professionals

3. Current support on the journey

​解释说明(简)

不同professionals对journey的支持​

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小结

 

​专家表示,早期更好: 为什么早期最有效?帮助老人理解,帮助professionals省事​

pick社工 时间,工作性质,能力范围

Early-on professional intervention is superior

Build an understanding of EOL enables the elderly to react to EOL challenges effectively and smoothly

Social workers are the best professionals to offer early-on intervention

Due to the working content and network, social workers are the best professionals to support the elderly immigrants.

4. Typical format of professional intervention

​解释说明(简)

seminar, video, 1v1 consultation照片+蒙版

Seminar: share EOL knowledge with elderly

Video: tell the elderly about what will happen

consultation: solve practical problems 

Disadvantage

Lack of two-way communication​

Advantage

Make the elderly realize that EOL preparation is possible

2. PERSONA

Based on the differences in attitude and dependence, four personas were generated to describe the elderly's status on EOL preparation.

​小结

Disparities exist among the elderly, regarding healthy literacy, language skills, physical conditions, economic status, and family bondings.

群体中的老人是有差异的

—无法用one-size-fit-all的solution解决

​—设计产出应该推进这些persona各进一步

Insights

 

1.Disparities exist among the elderly, regarding healthy literacy, language skills, physical conditions, economic status, and family bondings. Thus, a one-size-fit-all solution will not work

2. The solution should promote each persona to make a  progress from their own basis

Insight 5. Lack of early-on intervention results in a challenging last phase

Insight 6. Lack of early-on intervention results in a challenging last phase

Insight 7. Disparities exist within the elderly Chinese immigrant group

Insight 8. The solution should benefit the elderly with different conditions and mindsets.

Conclusion

"Bridge the gap between early-on intervention and the end of life."

"Social workers can be the guide"

"Pharos can take the role of building a path in the forest! "

小结

 

问题是啥

lack of two-way communication​

好处的共同点,深层value

Scope down the focus

方法:从research insights总结出design vision, LOR, design direction,用于指导后续设计

Define the problem and design direction, make sure working towards the right problem in the coming develop stage

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Why LOR? 做图(类似mindnote)

1. 红色Content - 可信、到位的辅助和引导

传达内容general+华人特有

1.1.医疗,care options

1.2.华人不了解的,常见challenge

1.3.topics worth explore(healthy living, hospice, wishes and boundary)

             

2. 黄色Target group - 适用于不同情况的老人,满足差异性

3. 蓝色Connection 探讨和收集反馈

4. 绿色Manner - In a proper manner

 List of requirements 

What the solution should achieve?

 Design direction 

Set signposts for the elderly Chinese immigrants to their road to the EOL, to mobilize them proactively exploring the EOL preparations together with social workers, in the way of early intervention.

Design a tool for social workers to offer early intervention on EOL preparation, which suits the elderly Chinese immigrants, and feasible to implement in the current context.

Develop the concept

Concept making,

from problem to solution

Colour code

Green-74A7A5

Purple-494061

Red-A8655F

Yellow-C4975D

 Ideation 

根据requirement和design direction

过程,产出是怎么来的

 Brainstorming session 

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 Concept development 

Final concept

​怎么收窄到boardgame的

The timeline below shows how the game concept was completed. 

Board game

 Initial concept 

 Design the game sections 

Requirement来的content

 Design the game mechanism 

思考讨论反馈

​人物-黄色

​怎样适用于整体人群和不同老人

Set characters to protect the players' privacy.

 Design the user epxeirence 

rearrange the sessions in the game

User experience was designed to

Final design

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​一张大图overview

 Using scenario 

Final design​是怎样满足requirement的

几个部分分别满足了哪些

Colour code

Green-74A7A5

Purple-494061

Red-A8655F

Yellow-C4975D

 Expansion of design 

Expansion of design concepts三点: 未来发展空间,不同群体,game形式用于不同问题

Evaluation

方法:问卷和访谈

​check requirements

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满足client request, Feedback from experts

​test result with the social worker

Contribution to the domain

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Results

Reflections

Supervisory team| Dr. ir. Sonneveld, M.H., Dr. ir. Boeijen, A.G.C. van, Dr. Gudule Boland
Company: Pharos (Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities)

Special thanks | 

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