About Me
Name - Piano Endo
School - DePauw University
Majors - Film Studies and Computer Science
Graduation Year - May 2023
Grade - A rising senior
Hometown - Tokyo, Japan
About My Mentor
Name - Professor Liz Murnane
School and Department - Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering
Areas of research - Human-centered design / Human-computer interaction / Informatics / Social computing
Website - Empower Research Lab
About My Project
- Background
- Chronic pain (CP) is a type of pain that persists beyond three to six months (Treede et al.). In the United States alone, about 20% of adults have some form of CP (Dahlhamer).
- Researchers have traditionally assumed there is a linear relationship between tissue damage and pain symptoms. However, in the past 4-5 decades, a new theory accounting for social and psychological factors has emerged: the biopsychosocial model (Engel). This framework points to a dynamic relationship between symptoms and complex environmental factors. Despite its popularity, systematic issues have barred integrative pain care principles from being widely operationalized (Ng). The patient-clinician relationship (PCR) can be a promising aspect for implementing the biopsychosocial model of pain as well as creating impactful patient engagement and tackling disparities in healthcare.
- Hypothesis
- More willing the patients are to reflect on their clinicial visit, more engaged they will be with their own medical care. Therefore, they will have better clinical outcome.
- Objective of the Project
- This project aims to provide opportunities for the patients with CP to reflect on their medical visit using interactive tangibles.
- To Do
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interview - We will recruit patients with a chronic pain diagnosis from a clinician. The recruitment process will be through flyers at DHMC, Dartmouth College, and local clinics, in addition to online platforms. The patients will have therapeutic tangibles with an embedded sound recorder that enables them to verbally reflect on their visit. We will conduct interviews before and after the patients interact with the therapeutic tangibles to collect data for further qualitative and quantitative analysis.
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interactive tangibles - Creating interactive tangibles begin with creating a cast for therapeutic tangibles using a 3D modeling tool Fusion360. Then, we will pour Ecoflex, the platinum-catalyzed silicones, and create an interactive tangible. A sound recorder will be inside the therapeutic tangible to catch the patients’ reflection on their medical visit experience.
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exhibition - After the qualitative and quantitative analysis on the interviews with the patients, we will hold an exhibition in the Engineering and Computer Science Center at Dartmouth College. The exhibition aims to increase awareness on CP and the patients’ experience. The theme of the exhibition will be resonance - hoping to suggest and/or remind of images, memories and emotions of the fights the patients with CP put up. We will display the interactive tangibles with a recorded voice inside in addition to a private space where the visitors can listen to them.
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