Project type: Service Design
Sector: Public Health · Childhood
Year: 2018
Mezclados
The challenge
Mezclados starts from the challenge of rethinking the ADHD treatment model for children aged 7 to 10 within the Chilean public health system. The project identified a dynamic centered mainly on medication and on the relationship between adults, health professionals, and caregivers, where children played a more passive role in their own process.
The challenge was to explore how design could complement the existing treatment, actively involving children and their families and taking into account the social, cultural, and territorial particularities of the context where care takes place.
The process
The project was developed over one year in collaboration with the Health Innovation Center of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and CESFAM Juan Pablo II, in the La Pintana district. The process was multidisciplinary and participatory, involving health professionals, teachers, center staff, families, and children diagnosed with ADHD.
Through field research, in-depth interviews, observation, theoretical review, and dialogue with experts, we sought to understand the experience of treatment from the different perspectives that are part of the system.
This work made it possible to identify tensions and opportunities within the existing model and move toward a broader understanding of the role of children in their own process.
The research was complemented by the study of Situation Theory-ADHD, the Neurodiversity paradigm, and Mindfulness tools, which served as a framework to guide the proposal and translate complex concepts into a concrete intervention applicable to the CESFAM context.
The result
The result was an intervention system made up of three elements that aim to integrate into the existing care model: a relational therapeutic game, a methodological guide for its implementation, and a redesign of the medical check-up booklet.
The game, called Mezclados, offers a playful experience that facilitates dialogue between children, families, and health professionals, incorporating mindfulness tools and neurodiversity principles to encourage children's participation and autonomy.
The methodological guide supports its implementation within the CESFAM, while the new booklet extends the experience beyond the consultation, providing continuity in following the process.
Together, the proposals aim to complement existing treatment and transform children's relationship with their diagnosis, their abilities, and the people who take part in supporting them.
Mezclados was my final degree project and one of the first experiences in which I approached design from a service perspective, working on a complex system with multiple actors. The project marked a starting point in my interest in understanding the relationships between people, contexts, and systems, and in exploring the role of design beyond building visual solutions.