Mediqueer
A Telehealth app designed to increase the LGBTQ+ community's access to safe medical providers.
RoleProduct Designer
DurationThree Weeks
ToolsFigma, Zoom, and Maze
Mediqueer is a queer-friendly telehealth iOS app that introduces LGBTQ+ patients to a community of their peers and affirming healthcare providers, and helps them get the quality of holistic medical care that they deserve. This speculative app design features a personalizable health dashboard, a questionnaire that matches patients with a compatible healthcare provider, and community-reviewed doctors that are held to a high standard of equitable care.
In the LBGTQ+ community, three main obstacles continue to prevent access to equitable health care: institutional poverty, isolation, and ignorance. A 2019 study of LGBTQ+ adults run by NORC AmeriSpeak revealed that approximately 3 out of 10 LGBTQ+ Americans struggled with accessing necessary medical care due to financial insecurity. This study also revealed that a whopping 1 in 3 transgender patients needed to educate their doctors about their unique needs in order to receive adequate care. Additionally, of the estimated 10 million LGBTQ+ people living in the United States, approximately 1.5 million of them have reported delaying or even foregoing medical treatment altogether due to discrimination.
Some healthcare services meant specifically for LGBTQ+ folks offer alternative payment plans to combat their users' vulnerability to poverty. Unfortunately, these services are not widely available, leaving many Americans in need.
To get a better understanding of the healthcare issues plaguing LGBTQ+ Americans, I conducted a survey and interviews. All of the interview participants said that they rely on other LGBTQ+ people for recommendations for doctors, therapists, psychologists, and other gender-affirming providers, and 95% said they would prefer to always work with a queer-friendly doctor. In response to this, I created access to local queer communities, financial wellness information, health articles, and more helpful resources from the home screen via the Resources tab. I also designed the Get Matched feature to make it easy to find a doctor by answering a "yes" or "no" questionnaire about patient's preferences.
Mediqueer provides access to local queer communities, financial wellness information, health articles, and other helpful resources. The Get Matched feature lets users swipe through a series of lifestyle questions to find their ideal practitioner.
The increasing popularity of telehealth due to the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for LGBTQ+ patients in all areas of the country to gain remote access to affirming medical providers. 85% of Americans own a smartphone, while only 77% report owning a computer in 2020. Through Mediqueer's in-app appointment scheduling and provider reviews that maintain a high community standard, LGBTQ+ patients across the country are offered equitable healthcare anywhere they can find an internet connection.
If given the opportunity to make this project a reality, I'd like to partner with organizations like the LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, Fenway Health, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. Partnering with groups like these would help secure funding for the further development of the app, build a network of LGBTQ+ friendly medical professionals, and facilitate a scholarship fund for aspiring healthcare workers who identify as LGBTQ+. With more of these people in the workforce, more patients will be treated by doctors who offer accessible, friendly, and well-informed healthcare.
Reviews from other Mediqueer users hold doctors to a high community standard. Scheduling appointments and filling out paperwork takes just a few taps and can be completed without having to call an office or spend hours on hold.
Mediqueer creates a sense of holistic community for its users with local health resources, secure and private instant messaging, and community-driven doctor reviews. Mediqueer's partnership with organizations that offer scholarship opportunities to LGBTQ+ healthcare students will provide long-term solutions to the barriers that prevent healthcare equity.
If you have any questions about this project or any of my other work, please don't hesitate to reach out at reeserosedesign@gmail.com.
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