Prototype for Hearty Meals

Hearty Meals

Janna Bico, RN

Joni-Lynne Lopez, RN

Gizelle Pastoral, RN

Introduction

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a condition when the heart muscle has weakened and cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. This leads to serious symptoms such as shortness of breath, fluid build-up in arms and legs (edema), weight gain, and fatigue. CHF is one of the most common reasons for hospital admissions in those 65 years of age and older. (American Heart Association [AHA]) It is a difficult illness to live with, however there are ways to improve health by making lifestyle changes. One important lifestyle change is to improve diet choices. This led our group to come up with a fresh food delivery program made only for those with CHF.

The design decisions you made.

We tried a few ideas before landing on the healthy food delivery. Our group named the company “Hearty Meals”. It delivers recipes and fresh ingredients low in sodium to a subscriber who has CHF. The healthy food delivery can alleviate trips to the grocery store and can increase compliance with their dietary restrictions. The nutritional guidelines of the American Heart Association of 600 mg or less of sodium with 10% or less saturated fat per meal and no more than 1,500-2,000mg of sodium intake per day.

A social worker would offer this service before a patient gets discharged home. Hearty Meals would offer a few recipes to subscribers per week. Trusted, chef-recommended recipes, including pre-measured ingredients are included in the delivery. Then, it is sent to customers within 24 hours so they could make a fresh meal for lunch and/or dinner. Insurance does not cover healthy food delivery like Hearty Meals, however we plan to charge at little cost of $10 per meal. Our goal is to make it possible for people with CHF easier to comply with their restrictions at the same time enjoy their meals.

How they are reflected in your prototype.

Our group researched the specific dietary restrictions of patients with CHF. Afterwards, we looked for examples of heart healthy meals with low sodium and saturated fat. We also chose recipes varying fish and meat. Next, we brainstormed exactly what would go into the Hearty Meals box. We decided to include a recipe card, nutritional info card, and education card in the box. Our group did couple edits before coming up with the final look of recipe card. Our goal was to keep a clean simple look to the cards, which will help CHF patients feel that it is easy to cook and eat a healthy meal.

How you made the prototype (which tool) and your experience using it.

First, we printed out recipes and pictures of ingredients to help us obtain a visual representation of what our Hearty Meals box would look like. Then, we designed the prototype using Microsoft Powerpoint and Google Slides. Originally, we thought of diving right into making a website, but we felt a powerpoint was the best way to present the company’s ideas and goals. It helped us organize all of our ideas into pictures. The powerpoint mainly shows the process for ordering a Hearty Meal, how it gets to the customer, and what kind of package the customer receives.

What did or did not work well in the prototyping process

Creating cut outs and print-outs of our Hearty Meal package worked well for prototyping because it was as close as we can get to portraying a physical representation of the package. It helped all members of the group agree to the contents of the package such as recipe, nutrition, and education cards. We had a little trouble with scheduling in order to work together on the prototype, however, transferring our powerpoint to Google Slides made it easier to edit together in real-time.

How does your prototype incorporate learnings from your observations and talks with your audience?

After interviews with some of the CHF population, we learned that some of the greatest pains in management of their care included the hassle of taking multiple medications, monitoring fluid intake, and difficulty managing sodium intake. With majority of the CHF population being over the age of 65, we felt like we needed to develop a feasible solution to help assist in their daily living. This is why we decided to focus on creating a convenient way for them to follow a low sodium, heart healthy diet.

We observed in class that many groups promoted education and awareness to their customers. Our group found Hearty Meals to be a major way in helping our patients to manage their difficult condition. A great way for us to incorporate education into Hearty Meals is to include a “CHF Tip” card for every meal they order. Having a large booklet of information is usually overwhelming for a patient, so we decided mini handout cards were more practical for our population.

References

American Heart Association. Retrieved from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartFailure/Heart-Failure_UC

_002019_SubHomePage.jsp on October 2016.