STARmind: A Better Way to
Approach Mental Health for Immigrants
Contributors: Camila Christensen, JP Gabriel, Luke Evans, Michael Harris
Student Researchers and Designers for UW CSE 440: HCI
Identifying the Issue
With 46.2 million immigrants living in the US, how can we make mental health services more accessible for them? Distress associated with social marginalization, cultural stress, and immigration related issues can increase suicidal ideation and risk; therefore early access to mental health resources should be a priority. Our research showed that language barriers and the need to connect with providers that understand their culture and diverse background were their most significant concerns. Some of our most insightful research showed a disconnect between how often someone is using mental health services and how often they feel the need to use mental health services. As immigration to the US increases, we identify immigrant mental health as an increasing concern and area that lacks clear support for a substantial portion of our community.
Our Vision of the Future
Our solution to this problem was an application that would alleviate the barriers to accessing mental health services. We were set on empowering our users with the ability to express their emotions and feelings through a method they would feel comfortable with. So, we were motivated to create a function that allowed users to speak in their native language. Additionally, we wanted to enable our users to resonate and connect with their providers by allowing them to search for practitioners who they identified with. So, we implemented a filtering system that allowed them to effortlessly find providers who would understand their complex issues and cultural nuances. We envision our users employing our app to facilitate the process of accessing mental health services by reducing language barriers and the cultural disconnect between providers and patients.
By Hand and On Paper
After finalizing our idea for the design, we had to focus on how it would look and function as a mobile application. To do this, we made a rough prototype of our app with paper representing screens and pop-up windows (shown above.) We knew the 2 tasks we needed to facilitate: finding a provider you identify with using identity based search functionality, and connecting with a provider using multilingual journal functionality to translate text from your selected language to the provider’s. We all worked on the “screens” until we wound up with an overall idea of our app.
In order to test our prototype, we had testers try to complete our tasks using the app and we recorded their feedback to revise the prototype accordingly. What resulted from the testing process was that pretty much everything was there functionally, but the flow and clarity of the app were awkward at parts. This was because the wording and design could be confusing. For example, an “add providers” button on the search screen was confusing to our testers because the nature of what it did was unclear, so we changed it to “contact providers”. We continued to make everything flow and more intuitive so that the user could complete their key tasks easier.
Moving Into High-Fidelity Space
Our first primary task was empowering our users with the ability to find a mental health provider with who they identify through various identity characteristics. This was accomplished through a filtering system that allowed users to search for specific providers with traits that users would resonate with personally.
Our second primary task was allowing our users to effortlessly convey their thoughts and feelings to their providers. This was accomplished through a journal entry where the user can convey their thoughts and record how they feel. Furthermore, if the user feels more comfortable writing in their native language, they have the option to select a different language and the journal will be automatically translated when their provider reads the entry.
The most significant differences between our preliminary and final mockup were aesthetic choices and operability. When testing our preliminary mockup we learned that there were parts that lacked fluidity and were not intuitive, specifically aspects like the size of our buttons or our color choices. The size of our buttons made it difficult for users to differentiate between whether it was a button or title. To resolve this, we made the buttons smaller which allowed users to easily ascertain the difference between buttons and titles. Another issue was that our color scheme was slightly off and caused some confusion about the functionality of the application due to using color as a way of identifying certain functions. So, we made changes to the color scheme of the mockup to make it more consistent with the operations we wanted to convey to the user. The last significant concern was the operability of the app. When the user would attempt to use the app on our digital mockup we lacked most of the functionality due to difficulty with connections between pages on our preliminary mockup. This required us to implement more functionality by adding more pages and connections between them to allow users more freedom when maneuvering through the app.
What a Process
In our user research, from personal anecdotes in our interviews and responses to our survey, we found that most of our participants felt the need to access mental health services more than they are currently using them. They face obstacles in finding providers that they can connect with through shared identity traits and experiences, as well as language barriers that make it difficult for them to talk about sensitive and complex topics in a natural way. In order to solve this, we developed an app where users can use an identity-based search system to find and contact providers that best match their needs and preferences. After being in touch with these providers, they can use a journaling system that their provider can view outside of appointments. When the provider views a journal, the text translates from the user’s language to the provider’s using a state-of-the-art translation system. This allows the user to express their thoughts and feelings naturally and for the provider to understand. We envision this solution will improve immigrants’ access to mental health services by making the process of accessing those services suit their unique needs in a way that the US healthcare system does not. The app will continue to allow them to find providers whenever necessary and stay connected with them through the journaling system. Then they can go on to live happier and healthier lives!
