This project was completed for a University of Washington (UW) master’s capstone in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH). As the patient-care experience can feel problem-focused, rather than human-focused, especially for children with severe neurological impairment, SCH’s Palliative Care Team* has been exploring the use of photos and stories (photo-narrative tools) to capture who a child is beyond their medical condition. Using input from clinical, technical, and administrative staff, and patient families, our team designed a prototype illustrating how the tool would integrate into Epic (the hospital’s electronic health record system), for use by clinicians and administrative staff. Our prototype is on track for implementation, with a research paper about its potential impact forthcoming.

*According to Mayo Clinic, palliative care is specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness.