Island

Part of

How we'll Care

Every cancer patient was once an island.

MA 2023

Keywords

Healthcare, Empathy, Cancer, Community

Overview

Island provides support services to the large population of cancer patients in China. Island integrates resources that already exist in the market and is a guide for cancer patients to start their new life. At the same time, Island provides a platform for specialists to work and create, enhancing visibility and influence. Island provides publicity and promotion for medical companies and provides a platform for organisations and institutions to promote their business.

‍

Island combines the characteristics of the Chinese healthcare system to enhance the experience of cancer patients by meeting their needs, and forming an exclusive network and chain of interests.

Collaboration

No items found.

SECTION ONE SECTION TWO STATEMENT SECTION THREE SECTION FOUR

Background

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in China, with over 4 million new cancer cases diagnosed in China each year. According to the latest data released by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there are about 4.57 million new cancer cases in China in 2020. And cancer is a chronic disease, therefore the patient base of this group is large and growing fast.

Problem

At present, they are faced with a two-sided problem, the problem of the Chinese healthcare system and the problem of patient healthcare.

Chinese healthcare system

As the Chinese cancer patient population continues to grow, so does the pressure on the healthcare system. Healthcare resources are very scarce. China has 22% of the world's population, but only 2% of the world's healthcare resources. As of 2021, there are only 124 cancer hospitals in China, which can’t cater for the approximately 4 million new cancer patients each year. Secondly, there is also a problem with the unequal distribution of healthcare resources in China. Advanced medical equipment and resources are mostly concentrated in first-tier cities, which has led to patients flocking to hospitals in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing for treatment. This has led to a concentration of patients who are unable to communicate with their doctors in detail.

Patient healthcare

The healthcare problems of cancer patients are mainly based on the physical and psychological problems caused by their disease condition and physical state.

Insight

As a result, this supply and demand problem has led to a treatment journey fraught with difficulties for many cancer patients. More and more patients have started to set up their own cancer patient support groups to help each other. Communication among cancer patients in China allows them to access more medical information and others' experiences when dealing with scarce medical resources. Among this close-knit community of individuals with similar experiences, cancer patients can experience a deep sense of empathy, greatly contributing to the improvement of their emotions.

Design Direction

The current communication channels for patients are unable to provide both the comprehensive and precise information and emotional support that they need. There is also a lack of uniform management because of the great variability caused by geography. The communication of cancer patients lacks medical expertise and authority, and their privacy and safety cannot be guaranteed.

Therefore, how might we establish a safe, convenient and professional system to post comprehensive and precise information to facilitate communication between cancer patients, so that it can assist them in their treatment, improve their emotions and enable them to face their treatment positively?

I chose this topic because I have a family member who is a cancer patient, and in the process of accompanying my family member through treatment, I have noticed some of the pain that cancer patients in China are currently experiencing and the scope for improvement that can be made to alleviate that pain. I hope that this will help the cancer patient community to have a warm healing experience when they are already at a low point. Because of this, I started with the emotions of cancer patients and focused on the positive feedback that communication between cancer patients brings to them and on the relationships between cancer patients.

Solution

My strategy is to provide a service with three components for more targeted communication with cancer patients based on the five stages they go through. Group therapy is a way to help cancer patients formally integrate into the patient community and help them adjust to their new role as patients. Recovery guidance is to enhance the ability of cancer patients to self-manage their disease's symptoms, treatment and emotions. I created a communication platform for cancer patients based on this three-part strategy.

Island provides services to the large population of cancer patients in China. It is a combination of an online community and an offline club. Community includes understanding and consultation, recording and reminding, sharing and communication. The offline club focuses on practical rehabilitation activities and will accompany cancer patients throughout their treatment.

Value & Growth

Island's value proposition is to help a cancer patient move more quickly from being a 'recipient' to becoming a 'helper'. Users will be supported throughout their journey through patient community, private information collation and collective activities.

The development of the Island is based on the concentration of cancer patients in each province of China, and the online community will cover the whole region of the country.

In the first year, offline rehabilitation activities will be held in Beijing and Shanghai where medical resources are readily available, and will be carried out in regions with high cancer patient concentrations over five years.

SPECIAL
THANKS

Team

Chen Dang

7256328@network.rca.ac.uk

07871092099

Portfolio

Approved