hello an introduction to hellosmile
Sunnyside Queens • Described as “up & coming” • Residential, middle-class, lower-middle -class population and all ranges to poor and poverty-stricken population • Local businesses include: nail salons, restaurants and fast-food shops, ethnic cuisine stores, a funeral home, and convenience stores and pharmacies
hellosmile • Want to get the whole family on board with healthy living • Work in poor neighborhoods, believing in serving the underprivileged and often ignored • Majority of the patients’ appointments are paid by Medicaid
Problem • Only 20% of patients return for a checkup appointment • How do we get the parents to bring their children (focusing on ages 0-6) in for appointments? • How do we get parents and kids to improve their health practices at home (particularly brushing teeth)?
Methods how i researched hellosmile
ACTIVITY
TOUCH POINT
Outreach
ENVIRONMENT
INTERACTION
OBJECT
USERS
Intro to characters: storytelling games songs
Schools/Classrooms Daycare Hubs Fairs
Call and response Questions Storytelling Check-up
storybook puppets equipment takeaway/toys
kids 0-6 hellosmile outreach reps care givers teachers
walking in/check in play learn wait
waiting room -intro to characters walls toys exterior of building
playing in play area parent check -in
toys in play space chairs front desk computer waiting room materials for parents
parents/kids/receptionist other people in waititng room kids leaving clinic (other kids see positive experience)
parents filling out form kids form
waiting room/ treatment room
receptionist giving parent form convo with assistant
forms markers illustrations
parents/ caregiver assistant/receptionist dentist
explanation giving passport
lobby when called to come back to clinic treatment area
assistant giving passport to kid/parent
passport and holder illustrations narrative
assistant kid/ parent
hop in chair
clinic space walls ceiling (games/ graphics)
bib placed on kid put pillow pet under legs
chair bib pillow pet
kid/ assistant parent
assesment of mouth
clinic room walls ceiling
sunglasses on when light comes down assistant/doctor looks in mouth games (distraction games)
tools lights games- puppets video sunglasses
kid assistant dentist parent
stamp passport get reward
clinic room drawer cabinet
explain why they did good explain stamp in passport give reward give raffle ticket
stamps for passport stickers toys/ balloons story book/ continuing activity health kit/ toothbrush
kid assistant parent
make next appt good bye
front desk door lobby exterior of building hallway outside of clinic
raffle ticket in raffle box reminder card for next appt questions
raffle box appt reminder card
kid receptionist parent kids in waiting room vs. kid finishng appt.
brush teeth 2 time a day
home bathroom bedroom school friends/family’s house
fill out: activity book/ coloring book/ story book check in phone dialogue with parents toothbrush
activity book/coloring book/story book toy puppet healthkit/toothbrush
kids/sibling parents receptionist
Phone Call
Enter Clinic
Forms
Passport/Info
Costume change?
x-ray in chair or floating
Chair
Assessment/Needs
Prize/Reward
Farewell
At Home
CATWOE C - Clients: The clients are 1) the children that hellosmile staff serve, and 2) the parents of the children that hellosmile serves. A - Actors: hellosmile staff secretaries, technicians, dentists, doctors, designers (on occasion) and administrators. T - Transformation: In the literal sense: children’s teeth are transformed, cavities are filled, and parents are advised as to how to change their at-home health practices. Overall the hellosmile clinics aim to transform how low-income families view and value positive health practices, encouraging an interest and investment in holistic health. For the purposes of this project, I am transforming the experience at hellosmile to incentivize parents and children to keep up with their health and their hellosmile appointments. This means understanding that we need to create monetary incentives for parents, and at-home helping elements for children. W - World View: The goal of hellosmile is simply to make the World a happier, healthier place through positive relationships and care for the larger community’s health (emotional, mental, and physical health). By encouraging compassion and understanding for the importance of good health within the greater community, we no longer are putting a band-aid on a problem, but teaching an under-served group to help themselves and advocate for the prioritization of their own health and well-being. A disadvantaged group may lack the resources of the wealthy, but with knowledge and a sincere interest in a healthy life, hellosmile will guide them towards a healthier and happier lifestyle. O - Owners: Those who literally own hellosmile are Ali and Farhad, brothers and founders. The customers, the patients and parents, have some “ownership” over their experience as can leave and terminate their relationship with hellosmile at any time, though this would be to the detriment of their health. E - Environment: The environment is the hellosmile clinic, in various outer borough locations. The limitations of this environment are that the patients and families are only in the clinic for a limited time, and the majority of their health maintenance happens in the home. To combat this we are creating several takehome items to encourage tooth brushing and consciousness of good health choices outside of the hellosmile clinic.
hellosmile journey map interactions between patients, families, and hellosmile staff March 2011 Incentive Key
Staff call the home to remind parents of the outreach and encourage them to make an appointment soon after the school outreach.
hellosmile staff
Staff call the home to check up on patient progress between 1-3 months after a dental checkup.
Staff call the parents to remind them of an upcoming procedure appointment 2 days before procedure.
1
outreach
&
bad checkup
*
& children
*
p
first passport
* p
bad checkup
parents
good checkup
(2-3 weeks between visit & procedure)
2 stamps if you have a good visit
p
bad checkup
*
* p 1 stamp for a bad visit
2nd stamp if you are having a procedure
dental kit
(repeat the same actions for either bad or good checkups)
second visit
procedure
*
*
good checkup
2
first visit
passpoint stamp given
Staff call the parents to remind them of an upcoming appontment 1 day before appointment.
(6 months between visits)
good checkup
p
p
3rd stamp, get ticket to win a Wii in a raffle
PEST Analysis:
P olitical
The political environment surrounding hellosmile is one of conscious disapproval of the government’s handling of certain health issues, and yet appreciation for the funding that is received by hellosmile and their patients. The vast majority of hellosmile’s patients’ visits are funded by Medicaid, which is a wonderful support to these families. However, with “No Child Left Behind” and a tightening of the early education curriculum, health practices are almost never discussed in school, thus leaving education up to the parents alone. Hellosmile notices this disparity in education and does workshops to educate children and puts a good amount of their assets into teaching the parents to teach their kids healthy practices. It is assumed from local signage and the socio-economic status and race of most of the community that the vast majority vote Democratic, if at all.
Economic
The economic environment surrounding hellosmile is struggling, as all of the patients and their families live in low-income areas, and the majority only get health care through Medicaid. While hellosmile has sufficient startup funds, and is prioritizing design, as an organization it cannot be fiscally wasteful in its decision-making. Money is a huge incentive for the hellosmile patient population, and this has been carefully considered in the design of reward and incentive programs.
Social
The social environment is a melting pot of sorts. Spanish is spoken just as, if not more so, frequently than English in much of these neighborhoods where hellosmile holds their clinic. The staff is extremely diverse, and languages from Farsi to Spanish can be heard around the office, and all but one staff member are bilingual. Nearby food shops cater to a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern clientele, and fast food stores serve food with Spanish and Mexican influences. Political leanings are not outfront in these neighborhoods, though old Obama stickers remain on cars. One could assume that the majority of the population is Democratic if they are legally registered to vote, simply from the diverse, International and low-income qualities of the neighborhood. However, a presence of Churches may indicate a social conservatism which could lead to lower abortion rates and pregnancy-prevention in the area, thus leading to a higher birth rate for young mothers, reflected in the children in the hellosmile clinics.
Technology
The technology directly within the hellosmile environment is very much up to date. The customers of hellosmile, however, do not benefit from the financial comfort necessary to stay at the cutting edge of technology at home. Most all of the patients and their families own cell phones, and this has drawn the founders and designers at hellosmile to conceptualize a process of texting appointment reminders to families. In the meantime, however, technology remains strongest for the care-providers, not the recipients. This technology gap may explain why a website has been a lower priority for the clinic, and the in-clinic experience (the design and cleanliness of the space) is considered to be a very high priority.
Incentives the final incentive intervention for hellosmile
hellosmile
coupons
why partner up with hellosmile? we bring you customers
&
you help keep
our community healthy
Research has shown that by offering patients and their parents a cash incentive, or a coupon for something they buy anyway, patients keep and continue to come in for their appointments. We at hellosmile want to team up with you to keep our community healthy, and to direct our business towards a store with our same good health values.
hellosmile clinic
our patients come in for a checkup with their child & receive a coupon to your store
$ $
$
How it works: $ $
You pay for a large portion of 2,000 coupons that we will give to parents who show up for their child’s appointment, and they bring it into your local store to put it towards a larger purchase.
your
store
directly after their child’s checkup parents go to your store and put the coupon towards a larger purchase of groceries
Our incentive coupons help us motivate Moms to come in for their child’s dentist appointment and direct them to your store afterwards • we want to encourage patients and their parents to keep appointments at hellosmile • the vast majority of our young patients come in with their mothers • in our community mothers do the grocery shopping in the family • we expect in a 1 month trial to have 2,000 patients come in for appointments and want to use the free coupons they receive for keeping their dental appointment.
= an added 2,000 customers shopping at your store
incentive offers:
Partnering with a singular corporation would allow for cross-promotion. Kashi (for example) would fit the values of hellosmile, and might be able to provide samples to send Moms home with after each checkup. Corporate Collaboration
Nail care for Moms
Produce or Fruit of the Month
$ $
$
Because the majority of family members accompanying children into hellosmile for checkups are women, offering a nail polish bottle or free manicure coupon at a local salon would be an effective incentive for Moms-only. It is expected that as a luxury and unnecessary purchase, nail salons will be more eager to have regular clients from hellosmile, unlike grocery stores which are necessary centers in the neighborhood.
“Produce of the month” is a partnership in which a hellosmile receipt or coupon from a recent dental checkup can be used to retrieve the fruit or produce of the month at a local grocery. The grocery will choose either a fruit or vegetable to provide a free to hellosmile patients.
$ $
Rather than $5, offer $2 or $3, split with the local grocery. They would contribute half the cost, $1 or $1.50, and hellosmile would cover the other half.
Smaller cash incentive/coupon
$ $
$
$ $
$5 cash incentive/coupon
A $5 coupon to put towards food nearby the local health clinic.
Option 1 Dentists at hellosmile liked this option because chewing foods like granola (not sugar-filled snacks) is good for the teeth. The extra chewing required by grain-heavy, granola-like foods such as the ones Kashi makes is good for growing teeth, and thus this is a perfect match health-wise. The values of Kashi also overlap with many of the values of hellosmile.
Option 2 Families at the dental clinics were excited by one suggestion to offer free admission to a local museum or zoo. This fits in with hellosmile’s values as it gets families to go out and be active together. The clinic initially wanted to involve local businesses such as supermarkets, and while the Museum hellosmile partners with may not be exactly local, it will be part of the greater New York area.
ad
m on it e
Partnering with a singular corporation would allow for cross-promotion. Kashi (for example) could provide samples to send Moms home with after each checkup. This would require zero spending on hellosmile’s part, so long as they promote Kashi, who would be reaching a different market than they usually appeal to through the clinic.
While the New York City zoos are money-seeking and are more private Capitalist ventures, several employees from the Museum of Natural History and the Queens Science Museum expressed a sincere belief that the Museums would want to be a part of incentivizing young children to brush their teeth.
A jump rope giveaway after a patient’s first visit, fitting with hellosmile’s intentions to promote sustainable products, and promote healthy living through preventative care, health and fitness.
goodbyesmile a service design exploration by emily sappington