Spinal brace design and treatment. A research on different design approaches to increase patient's compliance

Spinal deformity is the most common problem in children and adolescents with the share of 48%. (HCUP-AHRQ 2011) Only in United states, estimated number of patient who are suffer from spinal deformity is more than 4 million. Treatment requires from patient to wear the spinal brace for 10 to 23h a day for years which could be from 2 years to 6 years. A patient needs to join everyday life and socialize with people while wearing the spinal brace. Since patient needs to spend such a long time in brace, they do not want to be seen wearing ‘medical device’. The appearance of the spinal brace is on of the important factor for the user. Theoretically look of the brace does not have an effect on function but for the patient, it is a decision maker. Medical devices only work with the cooperation of the patient. Besides that, this long process has a potential to affect the patient not only physically but also psychologically. It has been proven that spinal brace treatment has a negative impact on quality of life. While medical devices aim to improve patient’s health it should not cause new problems in the processes. This thesis paper investigates the reasons for failure in spinal brace treatment from the design point of view and try to understand the user experience also relationship between brace and the user. Besides, exploring the possibilities to improve the effectiveness of spinal brace. In this study, people who are taken part in the treatment process (patient, family, doctors) are included to research paper. The focus of the research is directed to understanding patient’s design linked reasons to not follow the treatment. The discomfort that patient is experiencing, both physically and emotionally while he/she is wearing the brace creates a compliance problem. Patient compliance issue is the reason of ineffectiveness of the spinal brace. Based on multiple case studies, experimental works and literature surveys, the research is proposing possible ways of increasing patient compliance through design and highlighting possible features/developments to make the spinal brace more efficient. After detailed research, I came to the conclusion that product needs to be in balance between what patient medically needs and what patient willing to wear. This can be achieved by aesthetically customized the product to improve the appearance and help the user to engage with the brace. However, improving appearance is not enough by itself. Patient requires emotional and social support which can be provided by sharing the experience with other patients. As last continues data circulation required between medical staff so they can be more aware of patient’s progress.