Colon Cancer Screening

15 Min could save your life

Learning Team members of The Digital Innovation and Consumer Experience (DICE) Group produced education that encourages patients to get screened. From the outset, our primary goal for this project was to empower patients to take an active role in their health.

Our interactive module starts by enabling patients to assess their own risk factors. They also have the option to virtually explore the digestive system and learn how each screening type detects polyps and/or the presence of cancer. For patients wishing to weigh all their options, our module includes an interactive table that makes it easy to read, compare and sort through all available screening types.

Perhaps the element that we’re most proud of is our immersive approach to taking the fear out of the colonoscopy process. Through a combination of webVR and first-person video, patients have the option of experiencing a colonoscopy visit for themselves so they know what to expect. First, they select their preferred location. Then, through a web browser (or optional VR headset), patients are guided through the check-in process and are free to explore the environment. Hotspots appear throughout the tour prompting patients to learn more about that area or item. The patient is welcome to explore the zones of interest to them. There are no required elements; this is an open-ended experience. They can explore as much or as little as they wish in a three-dimensional space.

Finally, the tour concludes with a video filmed from the patient’s point of view in which the doctor addresses the most common concerns, even those that many people are too embarrassed to ask.