Demystifying cancer radiation therapy through comics
Graphic narrative discussion guides for explaining the radiation therapy journey for cancer patients.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Radiation therapy for cancer is something that all of us hope to never need. For those who do, the process is often foreign and confusing amid a time of general worry and uncertainty. Typical materials that patients receive describing the treatment are dense and difficult to understand, often explaining everything and nothing at the same time.
Our team sought out to create discussion guides in a comic format that explain the treatment journey for patients in an approachable way. We created three guides specific to the three disease sites most commonly treated by radiation therapy—lung, breast, and prostate cancers. The guides serve to facilitate the initial discussion between doctor and patient, and highlight the unique aspects of each individuals treatment journey.
This project was done in partnership with University of Chicago Medicine and IIT Institute of Design. It was funded by the Radiation Oncology Institute.
THE RESEARCH
Delivering treatment is a collaborative process between the doctors, nurses, radiation therapists, and physicists who staff the clinic, as well as social workers and family members who help care for the full spectrum of a patient's needs. Our research focused on understanding this multi-stakeholder perspective in order to account for the nuances of each treatment pathway and design an effective tool for communicating with patients.
Research goals
Understand needs of patients through their radiation therapy journey.
Understand the user needs of patient-facing clinicians in delivering care.
Understand the specific contexts and treatment methods for lung, breast, and prostate radiation therapy.
SYNTHESIS
In synthesizing our research findings we focused on the patient journey. Developing journey maps specific to each disease site helped us capture specific contexts of each, including artifacts, anatomy, and body positioning for illustration, as well as all possible treatment options for interactive use of the guide.
DESIGN
Storytelling was at the core of the delivery for this project. Our challenge was to design three static documents that could tell a universal story and also reflect each patient’s unique treatment journey. To find the right balance, we played with abstraction and utilized interactive elements so that each guide can be tailored to an individual patient's specific needs.
Design team
Jason Romano, M.Des — research+design co-lead
Grace Hanford, M.Des — research+design co-lead
Tomoko Ichikawa, clinical professor IIT-ID — project lead
Client
University of Chicago Medicine
This project was funded by the Radiation Oncology Institute