Tokeventure

identified problem

Paediatric procedural anxiety (PPA) occurs when children experience anxiety when admitted to hospitals and clinics for procedures, check-ups and investigations. Through this, they may experience exemplified pain, fear and distress. Increased PPA can cause the child to not cooperate with treatment, leading to worse or delayed treatment outcomes.

PPA is highly prevalent in children with long-term medical conditions. This can include cancer patients that require rounds of chemotherapy and chronic illness patients that may need constant blood tests. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to reduce the anxiety experienced by these children to increase their trust and comfort in medical-related procedures.

This, therefore, leads to the research question of how paediatric procedural anxiety can be reduced for children (aged 3 – 7yrs) with long-term medical conditions that require constant treatment and monitoring.

The research behind tokeventure

Both primary and secondary research was conducted. Primary research was done with the utilisation of a literature review. Once complete, 2 surveys were created. One focussed on one’s built environment and its relation to emotions (2 responses – architects) and the other focussed on paediatric procedural anxiety in medical settings (18 responses – surgeons, medical students, GP etc.). After both of these methods were complete, 12 interviews were conducted with individuals that had experience with children in medical settings (breakdown shown in the image).

Summary of Findings and Design Opportunities

After the research was complete, various types of analysis were conducted. Based on this, various findings were analysed concerning paediatric procedural anxiety. These are summarised in the flowchart.

This opened up design opportunities in relation to decreasing anxiety. Particularly products that tackled education before a procedure, distraction during a procedure and rewards after a procedure.

Research Report

Initial Sketching, prototyping and fabrication

Full Development Record

Introducing Tokeventure

Tokeventure in Context and Assembly of parts

Tokeventure was ideated as a product that could decrease child anxiety in medical settings before (education), during (distraction) and after (rewards) their required procedures. This was done to create a holistic approach to better the mental health of long-term illness patients, and create hope around their outcomes.

Through this approach, a two-pronged design was created. This includes the token collector which is kept at home and the token player which is used in medical settings. These two designs are connected through the use of tokens and a mobile application.

The flowchart further explains the systematic approach of the product.

Token Collector – How Tokens are Displayed

The token collector acts as an interactive reward system for the child. Each kit is customised to the child based on their likes and required treatment plan. A companion is also provided that can be taken to procedures, in this case, it is an elephant.

As tokens are collected, they can be placed onto the token receivers by the child. The child can also track their journey throughout their treatment period, thereby giving them more knowledge of what is happening and therefore reducing the fear of the unknown and PPA.

Customisation, Packaging and Assembly

The collector comes inside a custom box. The outer casing of the collector is customised with a vinyl wrap per the child’s preference (decided when the kit is ordered through their doctor – $10 – 15 per kit). The child will also receive a custom nameplate and stickers to personalise their collector. The whole kit is laser cut using acrylic and MDF, making it extremely easy to assemble due to its flatpack nature.

Customised for Different Medical Treatments

Each kit is customised with a front plate that is made based on the procedure that they must undergo. For example, an Acute Lymphoblastic leukaemia patient requires 3 drip treatments every month, for 5 months in addition to constant blood testing. Therefore, the first front plate shows the progress of this treatment in that it is made up of 20 tokens (1 learning token, 15 treatments and 4 blood tests).

The printed journey behind the tokens allows the child to track the progress of their procedure and also allows them to track the rewards that they may receive. Both of these things help with positive associations around procedures.

Mobile Application

Once the child receives the collector kit, they will also gain access to an education token. This will allow them to open the Tokeventure application, scan the education token and learn about the procedure (e.g. blood test process) through a gamified learning module. This ensures that the child is more confident as they are educated prior to the procedure, reducing the fear of the unknown, and thereby reducing PPA.

The broader application also allows the individual to scan in any adventure tokens that they have received. This allows them to keep a digital record of their progress and also allows them to unlock new prizes.

Token Player – How Tokens are Earnt

Once the token collector is assembled and the education token is used to educate the child, the touch screen token player acts as the device that enables the child to play and earn adventure tokens in medical settings.

The tokens use coded NFC tags with different games. These tokens are different colours dependent on different procedure types (blue = blood test, white = chemotherapy etc.). The games work best during initial needle insertion.

This device helps distract children and helps them to associate the procedure or test with earning adventure tokens rather than needles or pain. This thereby decreases PPA and turns ‘procedure days’ into ‘adventure days’ instead.

Process

Once the child arrives at the medical treatment area, the medical professional will set up the device by adding the next adventure token needed on the token collector. The token will then be placed into the token player slot and then it is ready to play. Once the child has completed the adventure, they can take the token home, scan it into their app and place it on their collector.

Accessibility

The token player can be used in numerous settings dependent on the situation. The silicon edges allow the device to be comfortably held in two hands. Using the custom leg stand, the device can be put on the child’s leg if only one hand is available to play with the device (e.g. during a blood test). This ensures the device does not fall off.

The leg stand can also be used to prop the device onto a table. The stand allows the device to be viewed from three different viewing angles. In the future, the slots that hold the stand can also be used to hold wheelchair-compatible accessories.

Customisation

Dependent on the medical practice or hospital that buys the device, the token player can be made into different colours. This device would be injection moulded, allowing for endless customisation opportunities.

The Games

Adobe Xd was used to prototype various games. These short-form games can easily be made and stored on an NFC token.

A Raspberry Pi, LCD screen, NFC reader and NFC stickers were used to create a working prototype.

Manufacturing considerations

The manufacturing of both parts was considered. The collector is made to be laser cut and the player is to be injection moulded.

Overall Impact

Overall, Tokeventure aims to combat PPA and improve the mental health of children with long-term illnesses through the use of education, distraction and rewards. Not only will this device help children associate medical procedures with something more positive, but it also helps in still hope as they can directly see their progress.