Children‘s Medical Adherence: Designing to Alleviate Medical Fear in Children
Yining (Jinny) Zhang’s thesis, Children’s Medical Adherence: Designing to Alleviate Medical Fear in Children, explores how design can reduce anxiety and build emotional safety in pediatric healthcare. Rather than seeing children as passive patients, Jinny centers them as active participants—capable of curiosity, courage, and even joy—in their own medical experiences.
How might we reduce children’s fear of medical treatment?
The inspiration for her thesis comes from a deeply personal memory. As a child, Jinny recalls clutching her mother’s hand in a cold, unfamiliar hospital hallway—not in pain, but in fear. “I wasn’t scared of getting hurt,” she recalls. “I was afraid of not knowing what would happen next.” Years later, as a designer observing children freeze or resist during treatment, she recognized that same fear. “It wasn’t weakness—it was uncertainty.” Focusing on children aged 4 to 12, a critical window for shaping emotional responses to care, Jinny’s thesis work asks: How might we reduce children’s fear of medical treatment—and support better adherence—by building emotional trust into the healthcare experience?
Through four design interventions, Jinny reimagines how children engage with medical care across three key moments: before, during, and after treatment. Each project combines play, empathy, and participatory design to reduce fear and foster emotional resilience.
Before Treatment: Super Doctor Team
Super Doctor Team is a storytelling and role-playing kit that transforms basic medical concepts into an imaginative, cooperative game. Children take on roles as doctors, nurses, pharmacists—even patients—using illustrated cards to make diagnoses and treatment plans.
“Before ever setting foot in a real hospital, they’ve already ‘played’ through the experience—with curiosity instead of fear.”
By stepping into the caregiver’s shoes, children build familiarity with tools, vocabulary, and hospital processes, reframing the clinical world as something they can understand and navigate. Before ever setting foot in a real hospital, they’ve already “played” through the experience—with curiosity instead of fear.
ChirpPlay: Practicing the Visit
ChirpPlay is a preparation kit that lets children mentally rehearse a medical visit. It includes a fold-out playset and magnetic story elements that let kids act out common clinic scenes—like getting a vaccination or having their height measured.
These visual narratives build emotional familiarity with healthcare settings and empower children with a sense of what’s to come. Instead of walking into a cold, unknown space, they carry a story they’ve already practiced.
During Treatment: Breathm
Breathm is a calming toolkit that turns deep breathing into an interactive game. A small wearable sensor connects to visual projections that respond in real time—as a child breathes, stars twinkle, waves ripple, or bubbles float across the screen.
By transforming breathwork into play, Breathm helps children self-soothe and stay physically still during procedures. It supports both emotional regulation and safe, effective care.
This simple visual feedback loop helps children tune into their breath—offering a sense of control in moments that often feel overwhelming. “They’re not just coping,” Jinny explains. “They’re learning to regulate—and that’s a power they can carry with them.”
After Treatment: HealPals
HealPals is a medication adherence system anchored by a virtual companion: a friendly, animated creature that “grows” as the child takes their medicine on time. Each successful dose unlocks new reactions, progress, and celebrations—transforming medication into a relationship rooted in care and mutual trust.
On the child’s side, it centers around a virtual animal companion—the “HealPal.” This pet grows, plays, and reacts when the child takes their medicine on time. Instead of presenting medication as a task, HealPals makes it part of an ongoing relationship, where consistency leads to meaningful rewards: emotional bonding, visual growth, and playful interaction.
On the caregiver’s side, HealPals offers a practical and empathetic toolset, including a customizable medicine dashboard where caregivers can input dosing schedules and medication names and real-time feedback when a dose is completed or missed. Unlike typical medication trackers that rely on alarms or charts, HealPals introduces emotional reciprocity as a core design principle.
This gentle and affirming approach helps children build medication habits through connection, not compliance. Rather than punishing forgetfulness, HealPals rewards consistency. “It also allows parents to stay involved without micromanaging,” Jinny explains. “this creates a dynamic where responsibility is shared, but autonomy is respected.”
Together, these design interventions reframe pediatric care as an emotionally intelligent process—one that honors children’s feelings and equips them with tools for understanding, coping, and healing. Jinny’s thesis challenges the clinical status quo, replacing silence and fear with participation, play, and trust.
For a deeper look into Jinny’s thesis process, research, and reflections, explore the following links:
Thesis Repository on Notion – a comprehensive archive of Jinny’s thesis development
Thesis Blogposts on Medium – extended reflections and insights
