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Simple Design in the Service of Doctors and Health Educators

Recently Design Corps was able to contribute some simple pro-bono design work that, because of the medical and health experts involved, could have a significant impact in what is designated as the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere. In 2009 Haiti had a population of 10 million. “It was the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the first black-led republic in the world, and the second republic in the Americas when it gained independence in 1804 as part of a successful slave revolution lasting nearly a decade.” 1

But Haiti has suffered a lot recently. On January 12th, 2010 there was the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in the capital of Port-au-Prince which caused an estimated 316,000 deaths, 300,000 injuries, and destroyed 250,000 residences and 300,000 commercial buildings, many that have still not been rebuilt. It is estimated that more than 1 million people are still living in tent cities in vacant areas around the city. 2

Port-au-Prince has no working sewer system, and is one of the largest cities in the world (about the size of Chicago) without one.3 So it was even more unfortunate when, around October of 2010, U.N. relief workers accidentally introduced Cholera into the country. There were 7,000 deaths last year from the disease and many more illnesses. It is still not under control. These catastrophes are greatly magnified by poverty, lack of jobs, and very few social services. There has been an outpouring of support, but most of this went to emergency relief. Reconstruction has barely begun. And what is considered Haiti’s greatest need, better infrastructure and education, is often not even addressed.

A Dream to Make a Difference

With all this news of suffering one is apt to feel powerless to do anything. That is why it is good to have people like the Berggrens in the world. Doctors Warren and Gretchen Berggren have devoted their whole lives to health education in some of the poorest countries and they spent two stints in Haiti. Gretchen Berggren is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health where she served on the faculty from 1968-83, teaching in international health and population sciences. Her husband Warren Berggren served at the same time in the Dept of Tropical Public Health. Both Berggrens have had long term assignments in Haiti (67-72 and 93-98) at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. It has long been Dr. Gretchen Berggren’s desire to see a printed tool like this developed. Not only can it help educate young women in how to take responsibility for their health, but it will also allow data to be tracked in order to decrease high blood pressure and hypertension which contribute to the high maternal mortality rate in the population.

Guided by Dr. Gretchen Berggren’s vision, Boulder Shares spearheaded and provided funds for a project to develop and distribute medical health record booklets to boys and girls at a youth soccer event. The event was in Port-au-Prince in April 2012 and was sponsored by GOALS Haiti (Global Outreach And Love of Soccer). Design Corps was given the opportunity to help Dr. Gretchen Berggren and Boulder Shares in the design and production of the Haiti Youth Booklet. While Design Corps has a long history of designing books, this was a book of an entirely different sort which required unique design solutions emphasizing simplicity for the unique function of this booklet.

The Booklet

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the 16-page Haiti Youth Booklet was the fact that it needed to be in Haitian Creole. The booklet was titled Pwoteje Tet Ou. The literal translation is “protect your head”, but it is a colloquial phrase simply meaning “take care of yourself”.
The sole express purpose of the booklet was for helping teenagers to learn the healthy habit of keeping accurate records of their medical history and data. It provided youth with a tool to track and monitor weight, blood pressure, educational seminars attended, and visits to medical facilities. Since it is a record keeping device the design had to be very simple and practical — more like a checkbook or passport.  Fields were provided to record key contact information, cell phone numbers, vaccination records, and blood type data so that this information would be easily accessible. 4 Also, it needed to have enough space for keeping 13 years of records.

The booklet was designed in colors that would be not only appealing in the Haitian culture but positive in their cultural and religious heritage, and avoiding colors that had religious or social stigmas attached to them.

And, finally, it had to be weather-resistant since living conditions can be very poor. Design Corps worked with a local printer to do a small initial run of 1,000 booklets. These were needed for the April youth soccer tournament in Port-au-Prince.

Delivery

The product was delivered through a medical team that was to be at the soccer event to offer simple medical exams. Nearly 150 booklets were distributed and more booklets will be distributed and tracked by IMR (International Medical Relief ) through mobile field clinics that will be available throughout Haiti in June and December.

Feedback was positive. In Haiti’s poor economic conditions there is a strong demand for even the simplest printed products. As with any educational effort the results are not seen immediately. The goal of this material is to improve the ability of youth in understanding and managing their health needs as they enter into parenthood and are involved in both family and community.

 
For more information on how you can support Boulder Shares please go to their web site at bouldershares.org.

For more information on GOALS Haiti go to goalshaiti.org.

For more information on IMR go to www.internationalmedicalrelief.org

1 – Haiti, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti
2 – 2010 Haiti Earthquake, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
3 – Port-Au-Prince: A City Of Millions, With No Sewer System, by Richard Knox, Shots: NPR’s Health Blog, NPR, http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/13/150501695/port-au-prince-a-city-of-millions-with-no-sewer-system
4 – http://bouldershares.org/health-card.html