Sarah Hodsdon
John Snow, Inc.
UX Designer
Sarah Hodsdon is a UX Designer with JSI’s Applied Technology Center. She has led the design and implementation of digital health programs in over 10 countries across Africa, Asia and the US, including mobile applications to improve service delivery for mental health care, family planning, maternal and child health, and infectious disease research.
Poster title: Exploring the Role of Care Givers in Digital Mental Health Technologies: Lessons from a UX Perspective
Depression is now one of the leading causes of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44 (WHO), and for many, it becomes a lifelong illness with multiple relapses and recurrences, requiring sustained care over a lifetime. Looking back at experiences designing digital mental health interventions primarily from a linked patient-provider perspective, I often failed to effectively develop a persona that is central to guiding new approaches supporting people struggling with depression: the caregivers, vis a vis friends and family.
This poster will share a brief case study of a patient-provider mobile health (mHealth) platform that is actively deployed into the clinical care of rural U.S. patients in 3 states with depression (as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bipolar disorder) with a focus on lessons learned from a UX perspective. These lessons have catalyzed a new design journey that seeks to form a clearer understanding of family and friends as potential users of digital mental health tools, and explore key questions such as “how might we enable loved ones of someone struggling with depression to play a more active, supportive role in their care and recovery; reduce stigma around depression and broader mental health topics; and build confidence talking about depression in the U.S. through a digital approach? Early prototyping suggests that by building intentional online communities of support for “the Supporters” of someone struggling with depression, we may achieve less stigma in the U.S. and more endurance within instrumental relationships over the course of someone’s illness.
