Introduction

To quote the paper, “Behavioural Design helps you to understand that your patients are more than their disease.”

Which is great because it encourages, the following actions by all participants;

Increased cooperation between providers
Improved understanding of the patient needs and associated treatments
Improved understanding by the patient of their own treatments
Improved recidivism and other healthcare metrics
Less resistance by patients leading to greater success for treatment plans
Equalises the input from specialists to bridge knowledge gaps for a more holistic solution

Behavioural Design Framework

Three key areas limit patient outcome success and healthcare provider (industry) value;

Social Determinants for Health (SDH)

Problem Space; the environment in which the patient lives and the
Intervention Space; meaning, where they will be undertaking the intervention to successfully realise the treatment plans outcomes

Behavioural Biases

Information avoidant; acting as if there’s nothing to address or refuse to acknowledge the news/information presented to them about their current position

Scarcity; Lack of resources, leading patients to focus on immediate needs at the detriment of long term outcomes

Factors for Intervention

Capability; The patients ability to communicate, interact and/or move, memory recall
Opportunity; Ability to meet associated costs, access to transport, diet, family/social support, culture and sub-cultures
Motivation; Drive to address issues, habits and perform unsupervised where appropriate, such as outpatient and how they prioritise the required activities against passive actions/activities etc

Additional Information

Addressing behaviours, requires understanding the patient, specialists and limitations to ‘nudge’ the patient towards their outcomes and supporting and reinforcing them at every opportunity that will increase their motivation.

On page 27, there is a brilliant infographic about the Problem and Intervention space followed by a brief case study and further on there are links to download the following tools;

Patient Behaviour Journey Map
Behavioural Challenge Statement Builder
9 Behavioural Biases in Health
Customer Empathy Map
Health Business Model Examples
Go-To-Market Strategy Cards

Not complete irrelevant for mental health, as mental health is about managing a persons psychology and emotional states to improve outcomes and is also intertwined with other activities of the physical self and worth the read.