Vision for aging veterans
Expanding the network of care for veterans and their familiesTHE CHALLENGE
The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) engaged the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design to better understand the unique obstacles and needs of Illinois veterans and their families. With a mission to, “empower veterans and their families to thrive in Illinois as an expression of our gratitude for their service to our country,” the organization set out to develop a typology of its existing and prospective customers.
As the Lead Design Strategist on this project, my team’s goal was to investigate the specific needs and desires of aging Illinois veterans so that the IDVA could better support veterans and their families through the aging process by offering and investing in valuable programs.
We set out to answer questions like:
The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) engaged the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design to better understand the unique obstacles and needs of Illinois veterans and their families. With a mission to, “empower veterans and their families to thrive in Illinois as an expression of our gratitude for their service to our country,” the organization set out to develop a typology of its existing and prospective customers.
As the Lead Design Strategist on this project, my team’s goal was to investigate the specific needs and desires of aging Illinois veterans so that the IDVA could better support veterans and their families through the aging process by offering and investing in valuable programs.
We set out to answer questions like:
- How do veterans picture themselves aging (e.g., at home, in long-term care facilities)?
- What supportive living programs should the IDVA offer and/or invest in?
- Is there demand for adult daycare programs? If so, where and how much?
- What aging-related services will veterans desire in the next 5-10 years?
ACTIVITIES
Generative user research (in-depth interviews, contextual inquiry), secondary research, expert interviews, participant recruitment, insight generation, prototyping, concept testing, workshop design & facilitation, service blueprinting, illustration
TOOLS
Dovetail, Airtable, Miro, Procreate, UserInterviews
TEAM
Carolina Silva Carmona, McKinley Sherrod, Ann Kauth
Generative user research (in-depth interviews, contextual inquiry), secondary research, expert interviews, participant recruitment, insight generation, prototyping, concept testing, workshop design & facilitation, service blueprinting, illustration
TOOLS
Dovetail, Airtable, Miro, Procreate, UserInterviews
TEAM
Carolina Silva Carmona, McKinley Sherrod, Ann Kauth
MY ROLE & CONTRIBUTIONS
Designed and led generative and evaluative research approaches
- Developed the recruitment plan for finding eligible veterans, family members, and caregivers; managed particpant outreach and enrollment
- Created interview guides and conducted one-hour, in-depth interviews
- Designed concept testing approach and conducted one-hour sessions with veterans, family members, caregivers, and IDVA leadership
- Synthesized findings and ideated possible solutions to the array of needs, goals, and pain points of our target audiences
Developed strategic roadmap and vision for aging
- After synthesis and ideation, we created four strategic imperatives and five potential services, all validated by our testing sessions
- Mapped potential partnerships for services like home health aides so that the IDVA could leverage existing programs in communities across Illinois
- Prepared final deliverable that expanded on the strategic imperatives and five services via a three-stage roadmap (in-depth explanation below)
Managed project team, scope, and timeline
- Tracked the team’s progress and managed daily tasks in order to reach our goals and deliverables
- Dovetailed the team’s work with the leads of the other two tracks in order to deliver cohesive findings, recommendations, and strategies
- Partnered with design director to ensure quality of deliverables
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS & CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
To develop a deeper understanding of our target audiences, we conducted one-hour, in-depth interviews with veterans, their families, caregivers, and the IDVA staff. This helped us gather their specific pain points as well as an initial sense of desirability for various services and benefits. Spread across Illinois, the site visits of all five of the IDVA skilled nursing and domiciliary homes painted a clear picture of the activities and culture of each location. A more nuanced understanding of how veterans experienced long-term care and how the IDVA staff provided this care emerged. Our generative research also uncovered some of the backend processes and inefficiencies of the various homes.
As we continued the generative research process, we needed ways to capture and frame our growing knowledge of the IDVA’s services and business. Because there are numerous steps required of veterans in order to receive benefits, we created current state service blueprints to understand the many activities and dependencies. A clear view of the processes was important for our solutioning since it would need to consider the front- and backstage intricacies of delivering veteran services.
To develop a deeper understanding of our target audiences, we conducted one-hour, in-depth interviews with veterans, their families, caregivers, and the IDVA staff. This helped us gather their specific pain points as well as an initial sense of desirability for various services and benefits. Spread across Illinois, the site visits of all five of the IDVA skilled nursing and domiciliary homes painted a clear picture of the activities and culture of each location. A more nuanced understanding of how veterans experienced long-term care and how the IDVA staff provided this care emerged. Our generative research also uncovered some of the backend processes and inefficiencies of the various homes.
As we continued the generative research process, we needed ways to capture and frame our growing knowledge of the IDVA’s services and business. Because there are numerous steps required of veterans in order to receive benefits, we created current state service blueprints to understand the many activities and dependencies. A clear view of the processes was important for our solutioning since it would need to consider the front- and backstage intricacies of delivering veteran services.
CONCEPT TESTING
After interviewing 23 veterans, nine family members and caregivers, and 15 IDVA staff members, we developed high-level concepts for new services and benefits that could potentially meet the needs of each group. Each concept one-pager included a description in the form of a story, and the target audience, the key value proposition of the service, and an illustration. This combination of information gave just enough information for participants to dissect and give feedback on each potential service.
The one-hour testing sessions were done remotely via WebEx and included eight veterans, family, and caregivers, and four IDVA staff from the IDVA Central Office and the five skilled nursing homes.
After interviewing 23 veterans, nine family members and caregivers, and 15 IDVA staff members, we developed high-level concepts for new services and benefits that could potentially meet the needs of each group. Each concept one-pager included a description in the form of a story, and the target audience, the key value proposition of the service, and an illustration. This combination of information gave just enough information for participants to dissect and give feedback on each potential service.
The one-hour testing sessions were done remotely via WebEx and included eight veterans, family, and caregivers, and four IDVA staff from the IDVA Central Office and the five skilled nursing homes.
We tested these concepts to:
The testing sessions revealed key pieces of information for the building of our final vision and strategic roadmap, like the amount that veterans and their families would be willing to pay for certain services, how far they would be willing to travel in order to receive such services, and who would use the service and when.
- Uncover the desirability of each with more veterans and their family members and caregivers
- Determine the desirability and potential feasibility and viability of concepts with IDVA staff
- Understand the benefit of the concept to the participant and how they might use or adapt it to their specific needs
- Discover any new concepts that the testing sparked
The testing sessions revealed key pieces of information for the building of our final vision and strategic roadmap, like the amount that veterans and their families would be willing to pay for certain services, how far they would be willing to travel in order to receive such services, and who would use the service and when.
A VISION FOR AGING & STRATEGIC ROADMAP
In the end, we delivered the findings from our generative and evaluable research in the form of strategic imperatives and five potential services that benefit veterans, their families and caregivers, as well as the IDVA staff. The strategic roadmap includes the roll-out of the five potential services in the form of “waves” that mark the major milestones in the full development of each service.
These five potential services addressed four opportunity areas for how the IDVA serves aging veterans:
In the end, we delivered the findings from our generative and evaluable research in the form of strategic imperatives and five potential services that benefit veterans, their families and caregivers, as well as the IDVA staff. The strategic roadmap includes the roll-out of the five potential services in the form of “waves” that mark the major milestones in the full development of each service.
These five potential services addressed four opportunity areas for how the IDVA serves aging veterans:
- A gap in programs and benefits for aging in place veterans who do not already live in an IDVA skilled nursing or domiciliary home
- A lack of support for the wider veteran care network, many of whom were overextended family caregivers
- A critical need for geriatric psychiatry support within the existing homes, especially as veterans with memory care and mental/behavioral health needs age
- A greater investment in employee experience and learning & development, especially as geriatric psychiatry demand increases
