Next stop: Kickstarter.com
Grant Proposal
project name
Interwoven: Hands-On Healing Activity Kit
target audience
Female Chemotherapy Patients: Ages 15-60
medium
Print: Instruction Booklet, Packaging: Pre-assembled Kit
context in which the final result will be seen
Printed instruction booklets and branded craft kits will be distributed at no charge to chemotherapy patients
project overview
I decided to design the Interwoven: Hands-On Healing Kit while sitting with my mom in the waiting room at Siteman Cancer Center in 2010. She was receiving chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer (which is now in remission). Art activities were offered in the waiting room at Siteman, but most patients only spent a short period of time in the waiting room before treatment. Upon leaving the waiting room, patients would be ushered back to a chemotherapy “pod,” which is a small room lined with chairs and beds, where they spent up to 8 hours receiving infusions. I spent a few months observing how patients and their visitors passed the time. Most watched television, read, slept or talked with other patients. I decided that I wanted to provide them with calming and distracting activities that were more productive and engaging than watching television or sleeping.
The final packaging and instructional design project will be a craft activity kit for women undergoing chemotherapy treatment or their visitors. Each kit will include materials and illustrated instructions detailing how to complete five different craft projects. The five projects will be color coded and ranked according to their level of difficulty and physical energy required to complete. The use of the kits will also promote camaraderie amongst patients and nurses by encouraging the patients to give the crafts as gifts upon their completion. During my observation, I realized that some patients were desperately searching for a conversation starter and the craft activities gave them a perfect ice breaker.
Craft Activites:
Origami Paper Gift Box
Bright Yarn Lei
Fuzzy Pom Pom Caterpillar
Band Aid Pillow
Cozy Knitted Scarf
desired outcome
There are two desired outcomes for my design: 1. The kits provide chemotherapy patients with a calming distraction to treatment 2. They encourage fellowship and open communication between patients, creating a sense of community within a chemo “pod.”
If I receive funding for this project, I will be able to purchase packaging, all craft materials (shown on the attached file) and pay for the printing costs for each instructional booklet. I would like to provide at minimum 30 kits at no charge to patients at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, Missouri. I have already partnered with the director of the Arts + Healthcare program at the hospital so, with funding, this project has a 100% chance of being distributed. I have also received a lot of positive feedback when I requested yarn donations on my blog (http://craftastherapy.blogspot.com/) so I hope to spread the money a bit further after receiving donations and increase the numbers of kits I can produce to 50.
