“You Can See the Connections”: Facilitating Visualization of Care Priorities in People Living with Multiple Chronic Health Conditions
Hyeyoung Ryu, Andrew Berry, Catherine Lim, Andrea L. Hartzler, Tad Hirsch, Juanita Trejo, Zoë A. Bermet, Brandi Crawford-Gallagher, Vi T. Tran, Dawn M. Ferguson, David Cronkite, Brooks Tiffany, John Weeks, James D. Ralston
Abstract
Individuals with multiple chronic health conditions (MCC) often face an overwhelming set of self-management work, resulting in a need to set care priorities. Yet, much self-management work is invisible to healthcare providers. This study aimed to understand how to support the development and sharing of connections between personal values and self-management tasks through the facilitated use of an interactive visualization system: Conversation Canvas. We conducted a field study with 13 participants with MCC, 3 caregivers, and 7 primary care providers in Washington State. Analysis of interviews with MCC participants showed that developing visualizations of connections between personal values, self-management tasks, and health conditions helped individuals make sense of connections relevant to their health and wellbeing, recognize a road map of central issues and their impacts, feel respected and understood, share priorities with providers, and support value-aligned changes. These findings demonstrated potential for the guided process and visualization to support priorities-aligned care.