MindCo
Modern adult offspring often find it difficult to maintain close emotional bonds with their parents, as work commitments limit their ability to notice subtle signs of emotional distress in elderly stroke patients. Insufficient information, misconceptions about stroke, and a lack of initiative, combined with limited family attention to mental health, heighten the risk of post-stroke depression.
To address these challenges, MindCo provides a comprehensive support system connecting patients, families, and healthcare teams — enabling real-time interaction, medical assistance, and emotional care to alleviate negative emotions and enhance recovery.
After-Effects of a Stroke
Physical and Mental Impact
Stroke sequelae include physical impairments, cognitive dysfunctions, and more, with patients potentially facing issues such as limb paralysis, muscle weakness, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and so on.
Post-stroke depression (PSD)
39%-52% of stroke survivors experience at least one episode of depression within 5 years post-stroke. Among those with post-stroke depression who lack social support, the mortality rate can be as high as 90%.
The Challenges of PSD Patients
Patients with PSD face more challenges
Compared to typical stroke patients, they face greater challenges in mental health, recovery, social support, and quality of life, which can lead to slower rehabilitation and a decline in overall well-being.
Stages and Treatment of PSD
Progression of PSD
Post-stroke depression (PSD) typically develops within the first week to months after a stroke and can persist for years. About 30%-50% of stroke patients experience depressive symptoms within a year, driven by physical disabilities, lack of social support, and fear of the future. Early signs include low mood, anxiety, and insomnia, which can worsen over time, severely impacting quality of life.
Current PSD treatment strategies
Medication Treatment (Antidepressants)
The medication may cause side effects and could interact with stroke drugs, potentially increasing side effects or reducing their effectiveness.
Psychotherapy
Long-term therapy for post-stroke depression can be time-consuming, and there is a shortage of experienced mental health specialists.
Family and Social Support
There are communication challenges and a lack of expertise in properly supporting and seeking help for patients.
Stakeholders Involved in Stroke Patient Support
Stroke patients' stakeholders include family members, medical team , therapists, caregivers and more. They play key roles in providing medical care, emotional support, and coordinating rehabilitation efforts.
Stakeholders
Stroke Fact
Stroke Worldwide
More than 12 million people globally are expected to experience their first stroke, with 6.5 million resulting in death. Currently, over 100 million people are living with stroke, with 60% of cases occurring under 70 and 16% under 50.
Stroke in China
China faces a significant stroke burden, with high incidence and mortality rates. Contributing factors include hypertension, smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, metabolic disorders, aging, and genetics.
Research and interviews focused on the medical team
Interviews were conducted with 3 neurologists and 1 psychologist
They come from different hospitals and are responsible for patients at various stages of stroke care. They suggest that specialized rehabilitation clinics lead to better outcomes, and emphasize that starting rehab early with strong family support is crucial for managing expectations and improving emotional well-being.
Blueprint
Using a Blueprint, I organized interview content to highlight pain points and emotional shifts for stroke patients, families, and doctors at different stages. Color-coded avatars represent different groups: younger patients (yellow), older patients (pink), doctors (green), and caregivers (blue).
Younger patients focus on recovery and returning to work, often needing parental support. Older patients face more physical challenges and rely heavily on their children for care.
Blueprint and Pain Points
Pain Points Summary
In the early stages, lack of stroke knowledge and information leads to emotional distress for patients and inadequate support from families. As rehabilitation progresses, misunderstandings and communication barriers persist, with later stages focusing on reintegration into society.
Younger stroke patients
Young patients focus on career recovery and rebuilding their lives, with caregivers typically being parents or partners.
Older patients
Senior patients prioritize long-term care, maintaining independence and managing chronic conditions, with caregivers usually being their children.
Final Concept
Joint participation in rehabilitation
The overall concept emphasizes collaboration among patients, family members, and doctors.
Elderly patients often need assistance with digital services, so family members can remotely access patient information and track recovery progress. Patients can log their health status and share data with doctors or family.
Doctors provide diagnoses, feedback, and psychological counseling, ensuring comprehensive support for both physical and mental well-being through this three-way collaboration.
Workflow
Workflow and Low-Fidelity Interfaces
The workflow showcases different user interfaces and key features. Users can choose to conduct the BEFAST test and follow emergency procedures, or navigate to the Caregiver(family members) or Care recipient(stroke patients) interface as needed.
Brand Design
The design concept centers on family support, collaboration, and social connections, aiming to create a supportive ecosystem for stroke patients and their families. The brand name "MindCo" reflects this vision, with "Co" representing Connect, Cooperate, and Collaborate, encapsulating my brand's core values.
Final Design - Onboarding Screens and Sign Up
The onboarding screens introduce the app’s four core features: linking family and patient accounts, tracking health, learning about stroke, and engaging in rehabilitation plans. This ensures users can quickly navigate the app, enhancing their first experience and building anticipation.
During registration, family members can directly set up and link patient accounts.
Target Group
In China, the average stroke onset age is 66, making it common among middle-aged and elderly populations. Due to differing rehabilitation needs between retirees and working individuals, the target demographic is focused on those aged 55 and above.
For elderly patients:
They require more rehabilitation and medical services.
Their ability to access information and learn new skills is limited.
There are fewer products available to them.
They need more assistance from family members.
Stroke patients aged 55 and above
Personas
Mr. Zhou, 58, his financial struggles heighten his anxiety and depression, slowing his recovery.
Mrs. Li, 68, faces emotional instability and a lack of motivation, affecting her rehabilitation and family relationships. Both experience slow progress and emotional distress, requiring support and motivation to improve.
Mind Map
To address issues such as insufficient communication during stroke rehabilitation, low patient engagement, and lack of understanding about stroke, potential solutions and sketches have been proposed. These include improving real-time communication between doctors, patients, and families, providing tools to visualize rehabilitation progress and health metrics, and enhancing patient motivation through personalized plans and knowledge sharing.
Their negative emotions during rehabilitation
The main sources of negative emotions in stroke patients are functional impairments, denial of reality, and slow recovery.
Family members do not care enough about the patient's emotional changes and focus mainly on how to treat the stroke and stroke rehabilitation.
Family's level of concern
Patient requests
Stroke patients and their families often lack understanding, leading to treatment delays and improper rehabilitation. They need more support, and healthcare teams must improve education for early awareness and prevention.
Research & Interviews
Research and interviews focused on the patients
Final Design - Home Page Emotional Interaction
The homepage features an interactive mood circle and lets family members send supportive emojis and messages, like "miss you, mom" with a heart. This real-time emotional support fosters closer connections and boosts patient well-being through simple, meaningful interactions.
Final Design - Health Page
The health page allows family members to easily track the patient's psychological and physical data, with daily and weekly details and alerts for abnormal readings.
For patients, the interface is simplified for easy use, enabling mood updates that are shared with family members. A quick-contact feature lets patients reach doctors if any issues arise, enhancing both monitoring and support for a more proactive care experience.
Final Design - Community
The explore page provides a rich collection of Q&A posts about stroke, helping family members learn more about the condition. Daily community topics encourage sharing rehabilitation experiences with other families. It also offers quick access to essential features like finding doctors and hospitals.
Final Design - Plan Page
A visualized rehabilitation plan was designed to help patients manage emotions and track their progress. Patients can view real-time plans, including medication reminders, rehabilitation exercises like gait and balance training, and treatments such as acupuncture. The patient's rehabilitation journey uses a mountain climbing metaphor to depict the recovery journey. Patients can also schedule activities, like plant cultivation, and use meditation or AI tools to relieve emotional stress.