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A Proposal for a Revised Digital Strategy for the Oncology and Hematology Department of
the Floating Hospital for Children
Sarah Soffer
Tufts University School of Medicine-PHPD
Health Communication 215
Dr. Lisa Gualtieri, Ph.D.
Summer 2013
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Rationale for a Digital Strategy at the Floating Hospital for Children’s Hematology and
Oncology Department
While it is often apparent why healthcare organizations such as advocacy groups or
research associations should have a strong online presence, the question of a digital strategy is an
emerging debate in the case of hospitals and care providers. Some argue that the primary mission
of a hospital is to serve patients on the premises and that online resources should be thought of
secondarily if at all. The more informed perspective, though, views health care in a much more
comprehensive manner.
A paper written by Dr. Linda Gallant, a professor of Health Communication, asserts that
websites offer a unique opportunity for hospitals to develop and maintain the trust of their
patients as well as to be seen as reliable sources of information (Gallant et al., 2007). Alongside
this potential, though, comes a tremendous opportunity for error and mistakes that could leave
patients misinformed or dissatisfied with the online features of their hospital. One study,
published in the journal Pediatric Blood Cancers in 2011, investigated the digital strategies of
several leading children’s hospitals throughout the United States (Stinson, White, et al., 2011).
The study found that many of these were underdeveloped and gave a dated impression of the
hospital and its offerings. Such cautionary tales demonstrate the need for evidence-based and
pre-tested digital strategies to be used in the special case of hospitals to ensure that information is
accurate as well as presented in a user-friendly and visually appealing way.
While such a presence is important for any hospital environment, it is even more so in the
case of pediatrics, and even further so in the case of oncology. Ninety-three percent of
adolescents and young adults use the internet, making web-based resources of particular
relevance to the current generation of pediatric patients (Lenhat, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr,
2010). In addition to this, web-based resources have been shown to have significant impacts on
the health outcomes and level of health-related engagement of cancer patients (Lee, Gray, &
Lewis, 2010). Further, studies have also shown that online resources have the potential to
increase the quality of life, level of healthy literacy, and self-reported level of social support for
patients during and after their cancer treatment (Gustafson, Hawkins, McTavish, et al., 2008).
Though some still insist on focusing only on the care given within the hospital, it is clear
that ignoring the evolution of technology would be a disservice to patients. The goal of every
hospital and physician is to provide the best outcomes possible to patients. When a resource as
invaluable as the internet is cast aside, this is a missed opportunity to positively impact the lives
of patients. Aside from this ethical concern is the business-oriented concern that hospitals that
are not technologically up to date are frequently assumed to be medically out of date. Such an
assumption not only deters potential patients from visiting the hospital, but also leaves current
patients with a sense of unease and lowered confidence in their institution’s abilities.
A strong, well-researched digital strategy, though, can, as previously mentioned, provide
doctors with new ways of communicating and educating their patients, provide hospitals with an
innovative marketing strategy, and leave patients feeling confident and empowered. Given all of
this, it is imperative that organizations such as the Floating Hospital for Children’s Hematology
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and Oncology Department have strong online offerings to their patients in order to ensure the
most comprehensive care and, in turn, the best health-related outcomes.
Description of Floating Hospital for Children’s Hematology and Oncology Department
Tufts Medical Center’s Floating Hospital for Children is a historical safety net provider
in Boston that serves residents of Chinatown and the surrounding communities. It is an
institution that prides itself on its need-blind admissions and is dedicated to this service. The
Hematology-Oncology Department oversees the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for
children with blood diseases or cancers. One of the sub-clinics within the Department, The Reid
R. Sacco Clinic is also in the midst of developing an online presence. I chose this specific
Department of the Floating because of the lifelong and ever-changing nature of a cancer
diagnosis and treatment. This process is a dynamic one that is constantly changing not only in
terms of the types of procedures being performed, but also in terms of the information that
patients and their families need to know. The parents of a child who has just been diagnosed
with a chordoma, a cancerous type of bone tumor, for instance, require information about what a
chordoma is as well as the different treatment options available. Children who have finished the
treatment process, as well as their parents, on the other hand, need information about potential
long-term complications of the disease and its treatment as well as strategies for ensuring the
mental, physical, and social health of the child and preventing the return of the disease.
All of these changes occur throughout each patient’s cancer process, which necessitates
innovative strategies for patient and parent communication. My thesis in the fall will be to
develop a website to guide adolescent cancer patients and their parents and siblings through the
lifelong process of recovery from cancer treatment. Because of this, I saw this paper as an
opportunity to investigate the current offerings of the Floating as well as to discuss the potential
for improvement. The Tufts Floating also attracted me because of its high volume of patients
and families with low socioeconomic statuses. The cancer process is arduous on any family, but
such vulnerable populations are particularly affected because of their frequent lack of an external
advocate as well as of resources for support. I hope that with my current exploration, as well as
with my project this fall, I will be able to produce a deliverable that can help provide guidance,
support, and a small glimpse of reassurance to patients and families affected by cancer.
Mission Statement
The current mission statement of the Floating Hospital is “to improve the lives of children and
their families” (Floating Hospital for Children, 2013).
My proposed additions to this statement are as follows
 To promote comprehensive care of patients using a variety of different mediums,
including the internet and online resources
 To become a trusted resource of online information for patients, their families,
and their loved ones.
 To provide individually tailored information to patients and their families that will
guide them through the diagnostic, treatment, recovery, and survivorship stages of
their cancer process
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To create innovative strategies to provide accurate and relevant health-related
information to patients in a way that is not hindered by language barriers, learning
styles, or socioeconomic status.
Planning Horizon
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
-Website provides a vivid description of the
services offered to patients and families during
the treatment process
-Visual aids used
-Clear “Patient and Family Resources” tab on
home page of website
-Website provides description of financial
services and vouchers available to low income
families
-Visually appealing website
-Consistent effort to ensure all text is underfriendly, with no unnecessary jargon or
medical terminology
Weaknesses
-Lack of targeted twitter, YouTube, and
Facebook accounts
-Available videos are of low camera quality
-Lack of description or information about the
illnesses treated by the Department
-Limited interactive components on any of the
websites
-Unclear target audience
-Much of the text is aimed at parents, but
some visual aids chosen seem to appeal more
to patients and siblings
-Lack of information on the website targeting
adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients at
any stage of the cancer process
-Lack of information regarding follow up care
and survivorship resources
-Website for the department is embedded
within the Floating’s general website, making
visitors have to go through several clicks to
find the specific page
Opportunities
-The relevant population of patients, parents,
siblings, and loved ones is ready, willing, and
eager to obtain information and support
-Affiliation with the Health Communication
students, faculty, and experts at Tufts
University School of Medicine as well as
-No clear and explicit mission statement of the
Floating in general or of the Department in
particular
Threats
-Strong competition from other health
organizations
-Ubiquity of incorrect, misleading, or
unnecessarily alarming information regarding
cancer on the internet
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Emerson Graduate School
-The Reid R. Sacco Clinic for AYA survivors
of pediatric cancer was established this past
January
-This provides an opportunity for formative
research regarding the needs, preferences,
and concerns of families affected by the
pediatric cancer process
-Affiliated research team has recently
received a grant to develop an online
resource for AYA cancer patients and
survivors
Primary Goals and Measures of Success
Goal
Goal #1: Increase appeal of portion of website
targeting current patients and past patients by
50%
-As measured by visual appeal, ease of use,
personal preference, and information retrieval
ability
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-Pushback from trustees or staffers regarding
the prioritization of exam-room care over
digital strategy
-Restrictions regarding autonomous web pages,
Facebook accounts, YouTube channels, and
twitter feeds might obstruct the creation of
more tailored social media account
Measure of Success
This will be indicated by a series of evaluative
sessions using current and past cancer patients.
-The subject will be asked to use the website
for 10 minutes and complete several tasks
-This will be conducted using 30 current and
45 past cancer patients
-The patients will perform this session using
the current website as well as the patienttargeted portion of the website once the
revision is complete
This will be indicated using parents of recently
diagnosed or currently treated patients
Goal #2: Increase parent satisfaction of
website regarding information about their
child’s condition, the treatment offered, and the
services offered to their family during
-The subject will be asked to complete a series
treatment by 25%
of information seeking activities as well as to
explore their own interests on the website for
10 minutes
-Afterwards, they will complete a survey and a
third-party analysis of their ability to complete
the tasks will be conducted
-This will be conducted using 30 parents of
recently diagnosed children and 15 parents of
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Goal #3: Develop a tailored, Departmentspecific social media presence that will
produce 100 Facebook likes, 25 twitter
followers, and 20 YouTube videos with 250
views each within 1 year.
Goal #4: Create a login-based, personalized
educational and social support website
targeting current and former AYA cancer
patients that has a membership of 250 after the
first year
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currently treated children.
The results for the revision of the social media
campaign will be indicated by the analytics
provided by the social media websites.
-Additionally, this information will be reported
in terms of final results as well as a chart
showing the week-by-week progress of each
account over the course of the 1 year initial
launch period.
This will be evaluated using a visit count as
well as a membership count
-The website will be promoted on the
Floating’s main website, under the portion
targeted at children
-Additionally, this information will be reported
in terms of final results as well as a chart
showing the week-by-week progress of each
account over the course of the 1 year initial
launch period.
Personas
The development of personas is a useful marketing strategy that can help ensure that any
type of media or promotional material is ideally suited to meet the needs of the targeted
population or populations. This strategy involves the creation of a hypothetical client, who can
be based off of focus groups or surveys or, in some cases, a logical creative brainstorm. Once
the identity of the persona is crated an in-depth set of background information is developed about
them as well as a description of a typical day in their life. One of the most important parts of this
exercise is to discern how the user came across the media, what services they are seeking, as well
as whether or not the media would be appealing to them and would serve them well. The
discussion can also help developers feel more invested in the well-being and satisfaction of the
target audience and provide them with a hypothetical reference point when making decisions
throughout the media development process.
The Oncology-Hematology Department at the Floating serves many different
populations, either indirectly or directly, which led me to develop 4 different personas in an
attempt to express the different needs of each type of audience. I developed these four personas
by brainstorming about the different stages of the cancer process that people might be in, the
different family roles that a person might play, as well as the age that a patient might be when he
or she becomes interested in learning about his or her own health.
Persona #1: Fernanda Lizarbe
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Fernanda Lizarbe is a 43-year-old woman of El
Salvadorian descent who has lived in South Boston throughout
her entire life. She is the single mother of Tomás and Santiago.
Tomás is 6 years old and is in first grade at The Dudley Street
public school. Santiago is 9 years old and also attends Dudley
Street, where he is a third grader. Fernanda Lizarbe began
serving as a foster parent to the two boys when Tomás was 1 and
Santiago was 4, and has since adopted both of the boys, who are
also biological brothers. Fernanda is a manager at a local
department store and receives employee-sponsored insurance
coverage for both herself as well as her children. Her job runs
from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening, and her mother and
father pick up the boys from school each day. Fernanda is
physically active and goes to gym almost everyday, either during her lunch break or before she
picks up Tomás and Santiago from their grandparents’ house. She also frequently uses
Facebook, email, twitter, and the internet in general.
One day, Fernanda woke up at her usual time of 6 am. She checked her Facebook and
Gmail accounts before she sat down to ear breakfast. After this, she woke up Santiago and
Tomás in their room and helped them to pick out their clothes and get ready for school. After
they had eaten breakfast, she walked them to the street outside of their house and waited with
them until the bus picked them up to take them to Dudley Street. Fernanda then got ready for
work and drove to the department store. At around 11, Fernanda got a call from the school
saying that Santiago had experienced what appeared to be a seizure during one of his morning
classes, and that he was in the process of being taken to the Floating. Fernanda immediately
raced to the Floating and texted her mother and father to let them know what had happened. By
the time Fernanda got there, Santiago was awake and alert and had been given a CT scan by the
Emergency Room physicians. Shortly after, one of the attending physicians sat down with
Fernanda and told her that his radiology team had found a mass in Santiago’s neck that appeared
to be a chondrosarcoma. Santiago was transferred to the oncology department to have an initial
visit with one of the oncologists. They explained what a chondrsarcoma was, but Fernanda was
too distressed to comprehend anything other than the fact that her son was sick. The physicians
made a follow up appointment for the next day, and referred Fernanda to the Floating’s website.
As Santiago had fully recovered from the seizing episode, he and Fernanda picked up
Tomás and then went home. Once the boys were asleep, Fernanda went to the Floating’s website
to learn more about chondrosarcomas. She was especially concerned about whether or not the
cancer was genetically linked and if Tomás was at any kind of risk. She also wanted to learn
about the different options for treatment that she should consider before making her decision.
When Fernanda went to the website, though, she found only a list of the cancers and blood
diseases treated by the Department and instead decided to use Google to try and find the medical
information she needed.
Fernanda is an excellent example of someone who is in the diagnostic and planning stage
of the cancer process. She was ready, willing, and eager to learn more about her son’s illnesses
and also had significant concerns about how it would affect her family. Upon visiting the
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website, though, she encountered a significant lack of vital information for families who have
just been diagnosed. This led her to turn to a general search engine and the unfiltered internet,
which would provide her with inaccurate, misleading, and, most likely, alarming information that
is not specific to Santiago’s case. This persona highlights the need for general information about
the illnesses treated by the Department as well as introductions to their histology and general
treatment options. Additionally, given Fernanda’s clear anxiety, it is important to include
resources regarding mental health of family members alongside information aimed at recently
diagnosed families.
Persona #2 Benjamin Lansing
Benjamin Lansing is a 52-year-old White man who lives in
downtown Boston with his wife, Becky, and 2 children. Benjamin
works in the Financial District as a stockbroker, and his wife works with
a local Non-Government Organization (NGO). Benjamin and Becky are
both relatively tech-savvy. Benjamin owns an iPhone that he uses
regularly and, although he does not participate in a lot of social
networking online, he has several e-mail accounts and uses the internet
to accommodate a lot of his business-related needs. His children are
Janie, who is 16, and Michael, who is 13. Both attend a private
secondary school and the children are in grades 8 and 10, respectively.
One Sunday, Benjamin woke up at around 8 am. He got dressed and made breakfast for
his family. Once Becky, Janie, and Michael were all awake, they sat down and ate breakfast
together. At first they talked about what Janie and Michael had done with their friends over the
weekend, but after a while the conversation turned to more serious matters. Michael had
recently been diagnosed with a chordoma, a type of bone tumor, in his spine, and the family has
been debating about what course of treatment to use as well as where the treatment should be
performed. Benjamin had tried his best to appear calm for his family since the diagnosis had
been made, but he actually felt a tremendous amount of pressure about making this decision. He
feared that choosing the wrong organization would hurt Michael and he was desperately
concerned about his son’s short and long term health. He also noticed that Michael’s diagnosis
had been particularly hard on Becky, and wanted to protect her as well. Benjamin told his family
that he and Becky had spoken with several physicians about which treatment was best, and that
the main question now was which institution in Boston, or elsewhere, would provide the best
care. Michael suggested that they look online at the Facebook and twitter pages of different
health care organizations to see which looked the most appealing and which provided the best
care. Benjamin, being unfamiliar with these sites, decided that these would not be the best
resources for him to use.
Once breakfast was finished, Becky and Benjamin cleaned up the dishes and talked a
little more about different ways to find out more information. They wanted to be able to start
treatment as soon as possible, but they also wanted to make sure that they were making the right
decision. After that, the family attended Benjamin’s firm’s annual party at Fenway to watch the
Red Sox play baseball. All of the members of the firm brought their family and friends to watch
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from an executive box, and the event was always a lot of fun. While the guests were mingling
and eating snacks, one of Benjamin’s closest friends, Patrick, asked how everything was going
regarding Michael’s recent diagnosis. Benjamin told Patrick about his concerns, especially those
regarding care given to patients during the cancer treatment process. Upon hearing this, Patrick
mentioned that his sister-in-law was a child life specialist at the Floating, and that he had heard
great things about the work she did to improve the treatment process for patients. Patrick
suggested that Benjamin visit the website of the Department to learn more, and that this might
help calm his nerves and make the decision easier.
Once he returned home, Benjamin used Google to search for information about the
Floating Hospital’s cancer center. The first result was the official page of the Department. Upon
arriving at the site, Benjamin noticed the “Patient and Family Resources” tab on the left hand
toolbar. He clicked on it and found descriptions and photographs of the different services
provided for children undergoing treatment for cancer. He read through activities and therapies
offered for not only the patients themselves, but also their siblings and parents. Benjamin
continued to look through the site and found links discussing long-term follow up care as well as
the tailored treatment that each patient receives. Ultimately, Benjamin found the Floating to be a
trustworthy source of comprehensive care for his entire family, and decided to have his son’s
treatment be conducted at the Floating.
Benjamin embodies the type of family decision maker that the Floating seeks to attract.
His case also underlined the pressure that a parent experiences when facing a decision that will
directly impact the health of their child. It is important to note certain parts of this case
regarding preference and needs. Benjamin, unlike Fernanda, does not have a strong Facebook or
Twitter presence, making certain types of social media unappealing to him. He does, however
prefer to get his information from internet resources such as websites. Benjamin also
represented a family at the post-diagnosis and pre-treatment stage of the cancer process.
Because of this, he was seeking information about how the treatment would impact his son and
the rest of his family and what psychosocial and therapeutic services the different institutions
offered. The current Floating website did an excellent job of reassuring Benjamin that the health
of his entire family would be addressed and did so using visual aids and family-friendly prose.
Although Benjamin’s case was one that resulted in user-satisfaction, an important take away is
the contrast between Benjamin and Fernanda in that parents at different stages of the cancer
process had dramatically different experiences with the Floating’s website.
Persona #3 Ushi Guo
Ushi Guo is an 18-year-old girl of Chinese descent who
lives in Jamaica Plain. She lives with her mother and father as
well as her younger brother, Chenglei, who is 13. Ushi is a
senior at Boston Latin, where she is a strong student as well as a
three-season athlete. She plays tennis, basketball, and soccer
recreationally as well as on her school’s varsity teams. On the
weekends, she goes to parties, shopping, or to work out with her
friends. Ushi occasionally drinks at parties, but has never
partaken in the drug scene that some of her peers participate in.
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She has a boyfriend, Rob, who she has been dating since freshman year who is also a senior at
Boston Latin.
When Ushi was 10, she began having double vision in her left eye, which she noticed
during one of her soccer games. After having an MRI, it was discovered that she had a
cancerous lachrymal gland tumor. Immediately after, Ushi underwent a gross total resection via
craniotomy as well as an aggressive course of radiation therapy at the Floating. Since then, she
has returned every 12 months for a follow up MRI as well as a neurological exam with her care
providers.
One Friday, Ushi woke up at 6 am as usual and got dressed for soccer practice. She ate
breakfast and waited outside for her best friend and teammate, Jackie, to pick her up. Once
Jackie arrived, the two drove to the field where practice was held. The team ran sprints for the
first 20 minutes and then practiced their shots for the rest of the session. Once practice was over,
the team got ready for school in the locker rooms and then headed off to Boston Latin.
The first activity of the day was a special assembly for the senior class to discuss the last
parts of the college application process. Ushi had already been accepted into Stanford,
Dartmouth, Tufts, Northwestern, and Emory. She was still deciding where to go though. Rob
was debating between UC Santa Cruz and Northeastern, where he had been offered full rides.
Ushi wanted to be near Rob during college, but they had agreed to make the decisions on their
own.
The first class of the day was chemistry, which wasn’t Ushi’s favorite subject, but she
still did well in it. That day, the class was discussing half lives of radioactive elements as well as
the possible benefits and possible harm that could come from radioactive materials. Ushi had
learned about much of this during her treatment as well as the follow-up processes. She
remembered that she had just received an e-mail reminding her of her follow-up appointment the
next week, and, as the college meeting had just occurred, she thought for the first time about how
moving away for college would affect her follow up care. Ushi had just started attending follow
up appointments without her parents, and was trying to take control of her health and understand
more about her condition. After class, she wrote a reminder in her iPhone to discuss this with
her doctor during the appointment.
In between classes, she checked her Facebook and Twitter and then walked to lunch with
Jackie. Ushi told Jackie about her concerns about her follow up care, and Jackie suggested that
they look on the Floating Hospital’s website to see if there were any resources regarding
transferring into adulthood after being a pediatric patient. After lunch, Ushi and Jackie looked
through the website on their laptops, but could not find anything about long-term follow up care
or about managing one’s own care as an adult survivor of pediatric cancer. There was a lot of
information about treatment, but that was no longer relevant to Ushi. After awhile, Jackie
suggested that they check St. Jude’s website. They did this, and found the information that Ushi
had been looking for.
Ushi is a good example of a young adult patient who is looking to take control of her own
health as an adult. Oftentimes, hospitals use their websites only to discuss treatment options for
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cancers and do nothing to address concerns of young adults like Jackie. Although Ushi is a techsavvy user who is very comfortable working online, the lack of information targeting young
adult survivors on the Floating’s website caused her to instead use a competitor’s website.
Unlike the cases of Benjamin and Fernanda, Ushi’s involves the patient herself who has long
since moved past the stages of diagnosis and treatment and is now looking to manage her care as
a survivor. She wants to learn about how to take control of her own health and what she needs to
know if she attends a college where she is not in the vicinity of her usual care provider. The
take-away from this case study is that there is a need to have information targeted at adolescent
and young adult survivors of cancer so that they can become knowledgeable about their own
health-related needs.
Persona #4 Andrea Lampen
Andrea Lampen is a 38-year-old White woman who lives in
Mattapan with her husband and 3 children. She is a waitress at a Newbury
Street restaurant and her husband, Mark, is an auto-mechanic. Her three
children are Melanie, who is 10, Charlie, who is 8, and Megan, who is 5.
The kids all attend local public schools. While Andrea does not have a
smart phone, she has a strong internet presence and actively uses her email
accounts, Facebook account, and Twitter account. Charlie was recently
diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, a type of cancerous tumor, and has just
started the chemotherapy treatment process at the Floating. While Andrea is
grateful that her husband’s family insurance allows Charlie to receive the care he needs, the
illness has placed significant financial and emotional strain on the family. Andrea has already
taken a lot of time off work to attend diagnostic screening and pre-treatment appointments with
Charlie, and she knows she will have to take even more time off as the chemotherapy’s side
effects begin to manifest in Charlie.
One day, Andrea wakes up at around 6 am and begins to make breakfast for the kids.
Mark has already left for work at the auto-shop. She cooks the usual favorites for Megan and
Melanie, but makes dry toast and rice for Charlie, who has been beginning to feel nauseous in
the morning from his chemotherapy. She wakes the three children up and they eat breakfast
together. At 7:30, Andrea walks Megan and Melanie to the curb to catch the bus for school, then
returns to get ready to head to the hospital with Charlie. They catch the orange line tee to the
Floating and head towards the cancer center. Today is an injection day, which Charlie doesn’t
like. Andrea sits with him in the chair while he receives his chemotherapy and once the
administration is complete, they head over to the social work center to meet with their assigned
social worker. At the beginning of the meeting, Marla, the social worker, talks with Michael
about how he is feeling, but, after sensing some of Andrea’s stress, Marla asks one of the child
life specialists to take Michael to the playroom for a while. Marla asks Andrea how she has been
coping with the stress. Andrea tells her about their family’s financial concerns as well as about
her worries that Megan and Melanie have had a hard time coping with the diagnosis and
understanding it. Marla tells Andrea about the many resources the Floating offers to families
impacted by cancer, such as financial assistance, sibling support groups, and other forms of
therapy. Marla refers Andrea to the Floating’s website, where she can learn more.
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That night, after the children are asleep, Andrea visits the Floating’s website and clicks
on the “Patient and Family Resources” tab. She immediately sees descriptions about the
different programs offered to the patients during the treatment, as well as the food and housing
vouchers that are offered to families. She is especially interested in the sibling support and
activity groups that the Floating offers. While looking through the rest of the website, she sees a
button that allows out-of-town family members to send messages to patients during the in-patient
portions of their treatment. She makes a note of this, as her extended family had wanted to know
what they could do to support Michael. After reviewing the resources described on the website,
Andrea feels reassured that, with help from the Floating, she and her family will get through the
treatment successfully.
Andrea exhibits a lot of the emotional anxiety that all families feel when going through
the cancer process, but also demonstrates an equally relevant concern of the financial toll that the
treatment can take on a family. In her case, the Floating’s website did an excellent job of
reassuring Andrea that she was not alone during the process and that the hospital would be able
to provide resources to maintain the well being of her entire family. This emphasis reflects the
Floating’s strong belief in comprehensive care. Andrea’s experience with the website helped
quell her fears, which will most likely positive impact her daughters and husband and,
transitively have a beneficial effect on Michael’s health in both the short and long term.
Competitive Analysis
The three competitors I chose for this were St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, The
Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, and Massachusetts General
Hospital for Children’s Department of Oncology and Hematology. Each of these offers care to
pediatric patients with cancer, but has a unique style to its website. I will analyze these websites
alongside that of the Floating’s in order to see successful tactics in action as well as learn from
the mistakes of these organizations.
Figure A: Screenshot of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital’s Homepage
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Figure B: Screenshot of The Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder
Center’s Homepage
Figure C: Screenshot of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children’s Department of
Oncology and Hematology’s Homepage
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Figure D: Competitive Analysis Table
-The comprehensive care and family-centered tenets of the
Floating is not made explicitly apparent by the homepage. While
the imagery is positive and family-oriented, one of the most
visible headlines is “Rapid Second Opinion Service,” which gives
the impression of the Floating as a backup institution rather than a
Purpose
go-to source of care
-While it is clear that is a care giving institution, there is not an
actual symbol or tagline on the logo. Instead there are only
colorful letters, which are appealing but are, relatively speaking,
indicative of a lost opportunity
-The mission of research and need-blind admission is made clear
throughout the page, especially in the tagline Finding Cures.
Saving Children. They also have large buttons that target the
different audiences, ranging from patients, to researchers, to
donors.
-The tagline makes the user clear that this is a care giving
institution, and the imagery of the logo and tagline reinforce this.
The layout of the home page is very promotion-heavy and seems
to be focused more on donations than patients.
-The home page clearly outlines the treatment emphasis of the
center, and also has some research photos. It is visually appealing
with several visual aids and a colorful layout. There are buttons
that clearly outline where patients and their families should go.
-The logo is quite institutional and is not warm or friendly. There
is also not a specific tagline, which causes the site to miss out on
an opportunity to make a welcoming and clear first impression.
-The focus on treatment is made clear by the first line on the page,
and the comprehensive care tenet is also emphasized by several of
the headlines.
-There is no tagline for the Department, the general tagline is
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Exceptional Care for the Youngest Patients. The logo is familyfriendly and welcoming. The addition of “for children” under the
MGH title also shows users that a lot of effort went in to
distinguishing the pediatric institution from the general one.
Primary Audience: Parents of prospective or current patients
The target audience is clear through the buttons provided to
navigate parents. There are only messages targeting the parents;
none target the patients.
Primary Audiences: Parents of prospective or current patients,
current, prospective or past patients, donors, researchers, and
physicians
The many different audiences are addressed in varying ways. The
buttons at the top of the page direct them to their respective
portions of the website, but the audience that is universally
targeted is that of donors. The language changes according to the
appropriate health literacy levels of each audience, and the images
throughout are friendly. There are testimonials in video, written,
and photographic form telling narratives of researchers, patients,
parents, and donors.
Primary Audience: Parents of prospective or current patients,
current, prospective or past patients, and physicians
The different tabs direct different users to the respective portions
of the website. Testimonials or narratives are not used in any of
the portions, and the literacy level remains constant and, for the
most part, appropriate.
Primary Audience: Parents of prospective or current patients,
current, prospective or past patients, and physicians, researchers,
medical students, health professionals
The different tabs direct different target audiences to respective
portions of the website. The literacy level throughout the website
does not change, but remains at a family-friendly level.
-There is not explicit mission statement for the Floating in general
or for the Department. There is an “about us” and “meet the
team” section on the oncology department’s page.
-The logo and the “About St. Jude” and “Why Support St. Jude”
sections provide excellent and well-targeted branding for the
institution.
-The logo is very bland and, while it is clear that this is a
healthcare organization, nothing about the mission of the center is
communicated.
-The homepage of the site is more appealing, and includes a
“Why Choose Us” section, but not an “About Us” or explicit
mission statement.
There is an indirect mission statement on the homepage that is
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specific to cancer patients and their families. The logo provides
excellent branding and paints a more family-oriented picture of
MGH-Children’s.
-The most obvious affiliation is to Tufts Medical Center as well
as the School of Medicine, both of which are made clear by the
logo. There are not any other stamps of affiliation on the cancer
center homepage though. There is a small headline that affiliated
the center with the “Newman-Lakka Institute,” but this is not a
well-known affiliate.
-There is an entire section of the website that is dedicated to
acknowledging corporate partners, such as Target, CVS, and Ann
Taylor. There are also clips of celebrity-sponsored promotional
materials throughout the website, YouTube channel, and
Facebook account.
-The logo makes the affiliation with two major care centers clear.
There is also a stamp on the front page that shows that the Center
was named one of the best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News.
There are also stamps at the bottom of the page recognizing the
affiliation with Harvard Medical School, the National Cancer
Institute, and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
-The logo shows that the hospital is affiliated with the larger
MGH, and at the bottom of the page are stamps from Partner
Health, Harvard Medical School, and several physician
representation organizations.
The design of the website makes it easy to read, but is also quite
dated. There are no professional-looking graphics, and the drop
down menu on the left is tacky and underdeveloped. While the
site most likely is easy for the target audience of parents to
navigate, it could be more visually appealing.
The design of the website is very modern and easy to navigate
All of the graphics are very well done, and grab the reader’s
attention without being overpowering. The color scheme sets a
relaxed tone as well. The buttons at the top are clearly
highlighted by graphics, and allow users to find what they need
immediately.
The website is laid out in a very simple way, that is, for the most
part, effective. It is not too busy and everything is easy to read,
but certain settings on the scrolling menu on the homepage make
the website seem a little dull due to the lack of clear images and
color.
The MGH Children’s website is very busy and is not formatted
well. While there are appealing graphics, there are too many
windows with text and pictures, which make it difficult to
navigate. Also, the site is formatted to be way too wide, making
it difficult to see all of the features of each page at the same time
without having to scroll back and forth. This increases the
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17
likelihood that a user might miss a critical link to important
information.
The tabs on the left-hand toolbar direct the parents based on the
type of information they are looking for. The audience is already
assumed to be segmented and limited to parents.
The large tabs on the homepage segment the rest of the site by
user, with sub-section on each site that further segment based on
information type.
The page seems to be targeting the parent, though there are large
buttons that segment the audience into “Physicians” and
“Families.” The rest of the site is organized by information type.
There are tabs that can be used to select the type of user, but the
screens are also littered with miscellaneous information that
would be better placed in a user-specific window. The calls to
action to “Make an Appointment,” for instance, should be
restricted to the patient and family section. Similarly,
There are only 6 buttons used to segment the information, which
makes site appear navigable and unintimidating. There are not
any sub-menus on the home page though and, because of the
ambiguous nature of the titles, it might be difficult to find
information on a specific topic if the user has never visited the
site before.
The site is very easy to navigate. The initial segmentation by user
is followed by drop down menus, which allow the user to find the
information he or she is searching for. Each sub-tab leads to a
new page that is further segmented by a toolbar. The initial
toolbar is available at all times, which makes it easy to return to a
previous location.
While there are large buttons that segment the audience by user,
there are also some ambiguous buttons, which, upon closer
scrutiny, feature drop down menus further segmenting the type of
information offered. There are several misclassified types of
information. For instance, the “Survivorship” link, which leads to
information about long-term care, is placed under a “Why Choose
Us” tab when there is no mention of survivorship services under
the “Families” tab.
Because of the previously mentioned disorganization of different
tabs and random links on the homepage, the site is initially
difficult to navigate. The broad titles of the buttons are not
complemented with any drop down menus or indication of the
type of information that they offer.
Everything is meant to come across as being generated by
experts, but there aren’t any sections that are directly written by
physicians or health professionals at the hospital.
Everything on the website is presumed to be expert materials, but
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there are certain sections where this is highlighted. Under the
YouTube channel, there are testimonials from patients,
physicians, and nurses who work at St. Jude’s. All of these,
though, appear to have been supervised by the development
committee rather than generated only by the experts. There is a
section of “Recent Publications” that features articles published in
journals as well as the names and titles of the authors.
The newsletter at first seems like an opportunity for this, but
consists only of headlines and press releases that are clearly not
expert-generated. There are, though, articles throughout the site
that are written by experts, or feature video interviews with
experts.
The newsletter on this site, as opposed to the Dana Farber-Boston
Children’s newsletter, features interviews with local physicians as
well as social workers. The social worker interviews provide
advice on how to handle financial commitments during the
treatment process. This section is difficult to find, though, and is
not promoted as being expert-generated, which could cause users
to skip past it.
No authors are listed on any part of the website’s content. The
only indication of update or review is the copyright logo located
at the bottom of each page. There is an introduction to hospital
staff, but there is not an indication that they are involved in the
production or review of the website.
Authors are listed when a recent publication is posted, but not
throughout the rest of the website. The only indication of update
or review is the copyright logo located at the bottom of each page.
There is an introduction to hospital staff, but there is not an
indication that they are involved in the production or review of
the website.
Authors and contributors are featured when interviews or write up
s are published on the website. The only indication of update or
review is the copyright logo located at the bottom of each page.
There is an introduction to hospital staff, but there is not an
indication that they are involved in the production or review of
the website.
While for the general content, authors are not listed, throughout
the expert-related sections of the newsletter authors and involved
experts are made clear. There is not an indication of update, aside
from the copyright logo at the bottom of each page.
Although the design appears dated, the information itself is timely
and relevant to each illness. There are mentions of recently
established clinics and changes to the protocol, such as the
involvement with the Newman-Lakka Institute.
The information is continuously updated, as evidenced by the
recent newsletter and press release postings. The rest of the site
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does not feature dates, but there is a 2013 copyright notice at the
bottom of each page. The social networking features on
Facebook, twitter, and YouTube are updated very frequently.
The information appears to be up to date, but it is difficult to find
an indication of exactly when the content was published, aside
from the copyright logo.
The “News and Events” section is confirmed to be up to date, just
because of the dates associated with the press releases and
interviews. Although the rest of the website appears to have up to
date information, no dates aside from the 2013 copyright are
indicated to confirm this.
Throughout its website, the Floating does an excellent job of
keeping health literacy in mind. Jargon is rarely used and, for the
most part, it is explained. The one way to improve the site’s
health literacy would be to add more of a family-friendly
description of the illnesses listed on the site, though this would be
more content-related than a literacy issue.
Because of St. Jude’s need for strong marketing, the language
used throughout the website takes health literacy into account
very well. The exception to this is the index of terms located
within the “Patient Resources” section. The definitions here are
very jargon heavy and often circular, with terms being defined
using other non-defined terms.
While the text within the website is mostly health literacyappropriate, the YouTube account for Boston Children’s with
cancer-related information is not. The graphics and charts used in
the Pediatric Playbook have the potential t be strong visual aids
The content, though, is terminology-heavy and is presented by a
physician as if to a peer, rather than to an audience of parents and
patients.
The health literacy levels on the MGH Children’s Oncology
website is not ideal, and is very jargon heavy. Even in the initial
description of the Department, words such as “malignancies” are
used. This word in particular has a very scary connotation, with
most people not understanding its true medical definition. There
are other instances of terminology-heavy text throughout the
website.
While there are some pdfs available in Spanish, English, and
other languages, there is no apparent way to translate the entire
site into another language.
There is an immediate link at the top of the homepage that allows
the user to translate the English site into the Spanish one.
English Only
English Only
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No user-generated portions apparent, with the exception of
involvement on the twitter, YouTube, and Facebook pages. None
of these accounts, though, are specific to the Department.
There is user-generated content such as testimonials from parents
and patients, but this was not as much the result of interactive
media as it was supervision by the promotion and development
team. The narratives are available throughout all sections of the
website and vary according to the audience. There is also
involvement through comments and reposts on the social media
sites.
There is no user-generated content that was done by the users
themselves. There are pictures of “thank you” letters written to
the Center, but these were not created in affiliation with the
website, but were posted by the development and promotion
team. There is also involvement through comments and reposts on
the social media sites of Boston Children’s and Dana-Farber, but
there is not a central cite for the Center.
There does not appear to be user-generated content on the
website, thought there is involvement in affiliated social media.
While MGH Children’s does have its own set of social media
accounts, there is not a set that is affiliated with the HematologyOncology clinic alone.
There is not a policy for user-generated content, though there is a
privacy policy about website use in general.
There is not a policy for user-generated content, though there is a
privacy policy about website use in general.
There is not a policy for user-generated content, though there is a
privacy policy about website use in general.
There is not a policy for user-generated content, though there is a
privacy policy about website use in general.
There is no way to login or personalize the website, as it is almost
completely directed at parents. There is a small button towards
the bottom of the menu that allows users to donate to the hospital
or the different clinics.
The only option for signing in is offered to doctors who need to
refer a patient or family to St. Jude’s. There is no way for general
users to sign in. Aside from the initial tabs segmenting the site by
user, there is no way to personalize the website.
There is no option for signing in, but there is a form the user can
fill out to request an appointment with a doctor. This does not
require a login, but asks for contact information.
There is no way to personalize the website, but there is an option
to make an appointment by providing personal information.
Additionally, there is a link to a separate website that is the
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Notifica
tions
“Partners Health Care Patient Portal,” which current patients can
use to view their prescriptions, appointment times, and to contact
their physician.
While Newsletters are offered for certain departments, there is not
apparent way to sign up for them.
Transac
tions
Users are able to sign up for a newsletter about new developments
at St. Jude’s, patient stories, and fundraising efforts.
The user is able to sign up to receive the e-newsletter and press
releases about the website
The user is able to sign up for notifications about announcements
from different departments as well as the newsletter
There is a clear call to action to make donations on every page of
the website on the left-hand toolbar.
Mobile
Social
media
and
user
particip
There is a constant call to action for users to make donations on
the main website as well as throughout the twitter, YouTube, and
Facebook accounts.
There is no indication of a donations page on the website. This
could perhaps be due to the affiliation of the Center with multiple
institutions. There are ways to donate on each institution’s
independent website, but not on the Center’s website.
For the portions of the website directed at parents and patients,
there are, wisely, no calls to donate. But throughout the general
MGH website and the MGH Children’s website, there are ways to
donate to specific initiatives, departments, or clinics.
There is not an app affiliated with the Floating in general or with
the Department. The website, though, fits well on a mobile phone
and is formatted to be easy to read and easily magnified.
There is not an app affiliated with St. Jude’s. The website fits
well on a mobile phone.
There is not an app specifically for the Center, but Dana Farber
does have some very useful apps for cancer patients and their
families. One of them is the “Ask A Nutrition” app, which
provides expert live guidance about healthy eating during and
after treatment. The app is not promoted on the Center’s website,
though, and can only be found through a specific app search.
There is not an MGH Children’s app, but the layout problems the
website has on a computer were actually mollified when it was
brought up on a mobile phone. Everything was spaced out well,
and the entire site fit on the same screen.
While there is a Facebook and twitter page for the Floating, there
are not specific ones for the department. Additionally, although
there is not an official YouTube channel for the Floating, there
are interesting videos about cancer-related services offered at the
Floating that are not tagged as being a part of the organization.
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There are not any links to social media on the website, but there is
a “Share” button at the top of each page on the website.
The website features icon links to Facebook, twitter, an RSS feed,
YouTube, and Google plus. The Facebook page has 1.2 million
likes, and is constantly updated and receiving thousands of likes
on each post. The twitter account has 259,000 followers, and the
YouTube account has 3,842 subscribers. There is not a “most
read” list on the website, but users are able to use the “e-mail this
article” link to forward information.
The Center does not have any of its own social media accounts.
There are, though, “Share This” buttons located on informational
sections and beneath articles written by physicians.
MGH Children’s has its own Facebook page, which has 2,089
likes, but there is not a specific page for the Department. There
are no links to the social media pages on the website, but there is
a “Share” option located for every page.
The website’s best feature is the attention to health literacy
concerns. Very rarely is jargon or terminology used, and when it
is, the terms are explained. While the site is not unattractive, the
layout makes it appear dated and out of touch with modern
website development. Additionally, the lack of social media
perpetuates this dated feel and misses an opportunity to better
engage the audience. The site is also a bit difficult to navigate
due to the ambiguity of the information segmentation buttons, and
although there is a drop down menu provided, it still take several
clicks for the user to find the information he or she is looking for.
Also, there is a significant lack of language offerings, with
English and occasional pdfs in Spanish. This is particularly
unsettling given the diverse population that the Floating cares for.
The website is very visually appealing and features large buttons
that help segment the website by user initially. The color scheme
is attractive, and the strong ties to social networks take advantage
of an opportunity to further engage the user. The website can also
be translated easily into Spanish. The glossary of medical terms,
though, is circular and does not take health literacy concerns into
account. Additionally, although the promotional materials work
well on social media sites, they tend to dominate the actual
website, and take away space that could be used to educate and
inform patients and families. There is also very little opportunity
for user involvement or interaction on the website, with most of
the content being read only with no chances for users to ask
questions or comment on the usefulness of the article.
The website layout is simple, but in a way that makes the content
easy to read and manage without the user feeling overwhelmed.
The application, though not mentioned on the site, was an
excellent way of taking health care outside of the exam room and
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providing users with a way to manage their health through the
mobile phone. The lack of social media account specific to the
Center was a lost opportunity, and seemed indicative of a turf-war
between the two institutions. Alongside this, there were
occasional links to the different parent sites, which could make
navigation difficult.
The home page of the website is very busy and also is not
formatted to fit onto a computer screen. This gives a bad first
impression and makes the site looked unfinished. While there are
social media sites for MGH Children’s, there are not links to take
the user from the site directly to the networks. MGH did wisely
choose to not include calls to donate in the patient-directed
section, and also did a good job of adapting their website for
mobile usage. Although most of the site seemed to be directed at
parents, there were scattered links targeting physicians, medical
students, and health professionals, which seemed out of place and
gave the impression of a corporation rather than a health
organizations.
Ideas to Borrow from the Competitors’ Sites
 Easy translation options at the top of the St. Jude’s Homepage
 Strong, tailored social media accounts from St. Jude’s
o Regularly updated, featuring pictures, videos, narratives
 Removal of “Donate Now” mentions from the MGH Children’s website
 Professional appeal and design of St. Jude’s website
 Mobile phone applications that supplement treatment and provide immediate
access to comprehensive, health-related information from the Dana Farber Boston
Children’s Center
 Explicitly stated mission statement and in-depth “About Us” section form St.
Jude’s
 Stamps of affiliated organizations such as physician representation organizations,
nurses unions, and hospital-based charities from MGH Children’s.
 Stamps of rankings from popular media, such as the U.S. News ranking of Dana
Farber Boston Children’s Center
 YouTube Videos using graphics and charts as used by the Pediatric Playbook
Series on the YouTube Channel for Boston Children’s
Features to Avoid, as Learned from the Competitor’s Websites
 Lack of clear target audience from the MGH-Children’s website
 Lack of tailored Facebook, twitter, YouTube, and other social media accounts
from the Dana Farber Boston Children’s Center
 Lack of linkage to existing social media accounts from the MGH-Children’s
website
 Lack of translation options from Dana Farber Boston Children’s
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24
Inclusion of call to action for donations on portions of website that were targeting
patients and their parents from St. Jude’s
Dominance of promotional, rather than educational, materials on social media
pages and portions of the website targeting patients and families from St. Jude’s
Absence of user interaction and user generated content from all three competitors’
websites
Absence of preference, knowledge, and audience-based immediate targeting by
all three competitors’ websites
Absence of opportunity to interact with other users or with administrators of
website on all three websites
Scattered, disorganized overload of information from the MGH Children’s
homepage
Absence of promotion from existing, beneficial applications from the Dana Farber
Boston Children’s Center
Ambiguous titles of information segmenting-buttons from the MGH Children’s
website
Jargon-heavy explanations of illnesses in social media, as used in the Pediatric
Playbook video on the YouTube account for Boston Children’s
Lack of effective targeting of current patients, AYA cancer survivors, or past
patients on all three competitors’ sites
Lack of login-based opportunities to create a personalized website on all three
sites
How to Distinguish the Floating from its Competitors
The Department’s website had, by far, the most consistent effort towards ensuring the
health literacy and readability of its content. This should be highlighted under the “About Us”
portion of the website. Many institutions do not make an effort to do this, and making it clear
that the Floating wants to be able to effectively communicate with its patients and their families
will help make the cancer process as well as the website itself less daunting.
One way, which will be further discussed shortly, to distinguish the Floating‘s
Department is to create a customizable website for AYA survivors and patients to use. The
competitors did very little to try and communicate with patients, and when they did, the media
were not properly tailored or conceived. This kind of a targeted, separate site will be innovative
in that it will help further engage survivors in their long term care as well as create a support
system to positively impact the mental health of current patients and survivors through peer
interaction and networking.
Decisions
Decisions about Design
1. The design style of the website must be completely changed. Currently, it appears very
outdated and does not represent the innovation and high quality care of the Floating very well.
The color scheme is well chosen, but the physical design is poor. The toolbar on the left, for
instance, is quite layered and does not use the more modern style of a top-down tool bar with
drop down menus. Additionally, the cubic cut of everything on the website looks very
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25
unoriginal and corporate, rather than welcoming and friendly. The links to other pages, such as
the “our services” scrolling bar (shown below), are very underdeveloped and are not visually
appealing at all. Instead, the links should be coupled with graphics or shapes. Finally, the
current design of the websites is general and not well targeted. An alternative, which will be
discussed in the recommendations section, would be to provide an option to personalize the
content. This will address Goals 1, 2, and 4.
2. The segmentation of the website is unclear and is not effective. While the site is attempting
to target parents of current or prospective patients, the user-based separation of information
makes this confusing and unclear. On the left toolbar, for instance, there is a “Parent and Family
Resources” tab, despite the fact that a lot of relevant parent information is located in other parts
of the site. This also does not indicate what types of services or offerings will be discussed. A
parent who has a recently diagnosed child might take this to mean treatment recommendations
information, while a parent with a child recovering from chemotherapy could mistake this for
transitional services. The dropdown menus only appear after the topics are clicked on, which
means a longer trial and error process for parents trying to find relevant information. Further,
there is a “Meet Our Team” link on the toolbar as well, which is awkwardly placed alongside
more critical information. There is also no “About Us” Section to which parents can go to find a
general description of the Department an its offering and mission statement. While there is the
start of an introduction on the homepage, this is overshadowed by ambiguous and misplaced
calls to action. The best way to improve the segmentation would be to sub-segment so that
parents at different stages of the cancer process can find the information they need more
efficiently without receiving irrelevant messages or information. This will address Goals 1 and
2
3. There is also a lack of Department-specific branding on the website. While the Floating is a
well-established brand, there is little effort put towards trying to create an individualized sense of
the Department of Hematology and Oncology. The color scheme is a good start, and gives a
subtle indication of the family-friendly efforts of the Department. The only logos on the page,
though, are the underdeveloped Floating logo and a “Find a Physician” icon that is featured on
every department’s page. This will indirectly address Goals 1, 2, and 4.
Decisions about Content
1. While the health literacy is taken into account throughout the website, the portion that could
be improved is the list of illnesses treated. The vast majority of patients or parents visiting the
website are searching for more than just the confirmation that their illness is eligible for
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26
treatment at the Floating. They are searching for information about the prognosis, the symptoms,
the types of therapies available, and the cause of the cancer. As confirmed by Fernanda’s case
study, the current website does not meet any of these needs. There should be in-depth
descriptions of the different types of cancers as well as pictures, narratives, and videos
explaining what it means to have that type of cancer. This will address Goal 2
2. The website is currently lacking forms of user-engagement, such as feedback mechanisms and
the ability to post. While this is not typical for a hospital website, the previously mentioned
tailoring as well as the introduction of a separate website could create a forum where it is
appropriate to do this. Ideally, there would be ways for users to post their own thoughts and
narratives as well as, most importantly, give feedback to the administrators or ask questions of
the experts. This would ensure that the website would stay in tune with the needs of the different
audiences. The best way to do this would be to create a separate website for those who would
benefit most from such engagement, in this case, patients and survivors. This would address
Goal 4
3. The website needs to feature options for immediately and easily translating the web page and
its documents into Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, Thai, Farsi, and other languages
spoken by the diverse community that the Floating serves. Currently, there are only occasional
pdfs that are offered in multiple languages. This would indirectly address goals 1 and 2
Decisions about Technology
1. The proposed separate website for AYA survivors and patients should feature a strong social
media presence and allow for communication, discussion, and networking between the AYA
users. Discussion boards could be set up to allow dialogue between peers as well as question and
answer sessions with practicing oncologists, nutritionists, and physical therapists to ensure that
the children have an anonymous way to ask questions about their health if they are not able to
immediately attend an appointment. This would suit the needs of Ushi, the 17-year-old survivor
mentioned in the case studies, who might be moving away for college and would benefit from a
resource that could be used even if she were on the other side of the country. This site would be
monitored by the child life specialists at the Floating to ensure that information provided was up
to date, to prevent any antagonistic discussions between members, an to keep the interactive
components running smoothly. This would address goals 1 and 4
2. Regarding the more general site, a much more tailored and active social media presence is
necessary. While there are general accounts for the Floating at large, there are few tailored
accounts for the Department. To solve this, the Department should establish its own Facebook,
twitter, and YouTube Channels. While ideally, original content would be uploaded once a week,
the posts could also be links to beneficial parent and patient resources, which would take some of
the workload off of the development team of the Floating. Additionally, several apps should be
developed to help facilitate mobile health upkeep. These apps could be modeled off of Dana
Farber’s Ask the Nutritionist application, and could provide parents and patients with
information about physical health, such as diet and exercise, mental health, such as stress
management, and social health, such as relationship advice and event in the user’s area. This
would address goal 3.
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3. A way to combine both expert material as well as social media would be to create a websitebased weekly chat, similar to that hosted by ABC. Patients and parents could submit questions
every week, and a Floating physician could prepare either a weekly video post, write up, or set of
diagrams to answer the selected post. This would be a good way to engage users as well as
provide them with the information most relevant to their needs. This would indirectly address
goals 1, 2, and 3.
Decisions about Evaluation
1. The pre- and post- evaluations mentioned in the Goals section will be accomplished using
surveys and interviews. For each test, the user will be first be given 2 assignments to complete.
These assignments will be to find a certain type of information. The time that it takes each use to
do this will be recorded for later analysis. Once the two assignments are completed each user
will be given 10 minutes to explore the portion of the website that is targeted at their
demographic. They will then complete an interview involving Likert scales and qualitative
questions to determine their experience with the website. This will help evaluate whether or not
goals 1, 2, and 4 have been achieved. This will measure goals 1, 2, and 4.
2. In addition to the study-based sources of evaluation, there will also be surveys placed
throughout the new version of the website. These will ask for any feedback and will also
evaluate ease of use, visual appeal, and overall satisfaction. The section of the website and
social media that allow for comments, such as articles and Facebook pages, will be monitored to
address any suggestions or complaints that are entered informally. This will help keep monitor
the progress of goals 1, 2, and 4.
Revised Digital Strategy
Recommended Initiatives
1. The first major change to the digital strategy would be in an effort to provide tailored content
to one of the most important audiences, AYA cancer patients and survivors. To do this, a
separate site would be created to serve as a tailored educational resource for these children as
well as a source of social support. The site would be accessed by selecting the “Current
Patients” or the “Former Patients” buttons on the main menu of the Department’s website.
Patients and survivors could contact the Floating to receive their login information. When they
log on for the first time, the will begin by answering a series of questions relating to their visual
preferences, their current level of health-related knowledge, their desired level of health-related
knowledge, their extra curricular activities and interests, and their preferred social networks.
Once these questions are answered, their account will be created to match their preferences and
needs. Additionally, the patients’ individual site will feature information unique to their health
care needs, as specified by child life specialists and the patient’s oncologist or primary care
doctor. For instance, if a child being treated for a chordoma were to log on, their treatment
schedule, age-appropriate information about chordomas, as well as suggestions and strategies for
maximizing their health would be available through the main menu. General non-cancer health
information would also be available.
There would also be a social component to the site, which would allow users to interact
with one another. Discussion groups could be posted by any user for a large group to interact
recreationally or in a more structured way. There will also be options for privately messaging
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fellow users. It should be noted that the activity on the site will be monitored by child life
specialists at the Floating in order to ensure that not inappropriate or antagonistic communication
occurs. The site is an innovative way of engaging patients in their health care. The population
of AYA cancer patients and survivors is an incredibly vulnerable one, which is prone to chronic
disease and secondary cancers, making their maintenance of and engagement in their physical,
mental, and social health a priority. This site will work to empower users to manager their own
health care and to stay informed about their own health needs. It will also provide a new way of
affecting the comprehensive health of members of this population. The social network that it
establishes will help teens not feel as isolated in their circumstances, and will also provide them
with a means of learning more about what peers in different stages of the cancer process are
going through.
While this strategy would require a great deal of man hours, financial resources, and
involvement from the Floating, its effects will be well worth the efforts. The success of the
website, and of reaching goal #4, will be measured by analytics such as how frequently a user
logs into their account as well as by surveys and interviews, which will be conducted throughout
the year-long launch process.
2. The Department’s use of social media also must be revised in order to create the best digital
strategy possible. First, three separate Facebook accounts must be created. The first will be
public and directed towards prospective parents and patients as well as any other interested
parties. This will provide information about new developments within the department, the daily
going on within the cancer center, and links to narratives of patients and physicians at the
Floating. The second two accounts will be accessed by invitation only, and will be directed at
parents of patients or AYA survivors and patients. These will provide tailored information to the
two parties. The patients’ account will provide information about adjusting to chemotherapy
treatment, the transition from chemotherapy back into school, how to begin to manage one’s own
care, and links to other useful articles. This account will be linked to the previously mentioned
website. The second account will target parents of patients and survivors. It will feature similar
information, but will also provide advice and links to articles about how to manage the stress of
having a child with cancer, how to explain the situation to younger siblings, and other
management techniques to ensure that the parents are just as equipped as the patients to deal with
the cancer process. This group will also serve as a way for parents to interact with peers who are
at different stages of the cancer process. A father of a recently diagnosed child, for instance,
might benefit from privately messaging a father with a son who completely chemotherapy
several years ago. This, too, will help promote the well being of the parent and, in turn, of the
child. The same 3 groups will also be created on Twitter, in case the users have a preference of
social networking site.
A YouTube channel should also be developed, which could feature original content as
well as educational videos produced by other organizations. There could be an interactive
component as well. The Facebook account could pose challenges to parents and survivors to
make a video discussing the transition from pediatric to adult care, and post the submissions on
the YouTube channel. This account would be linked to the Facebook accounts as well as the
AYA patients website to encourage involvement from the users.
In accordance with Goal #3, these measures will be evaluated using analytics as well as
satisfaction surveys completed by the users. This is another resource-heavy initiative, but the
significant lack of social media on the current website makes this a priority. Development
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personnel and child life specialists would be involved in managing the different accounts, and
experts such as physicians and nurses could occasionally post videos or links that provide advice.
3. The Department’s website is in need of a redesign in order for a successful digital strategy to
be implemented. One big change would be the segmentation of audiences. I suggest that, upon
first accessing the page, the user is met by a page with only 5 large buttons reading “Prospective
Parents,” “Parents of Patients,” “Current Patients,” “Past Patients,” and “Visitor.” Each button
would lead to a tailored version of the website so that the user could gain access to the
information they need as efficiently as possible. This will also help ensure that the information
provided is age-appropriate and meets the health literacy level of the viewer. This segmentation
also ensures that the viewer will not waste their time being distracted by unnecessary portions.
There would not be, for instance, a call to action to donate, on the portion of the site targeting
parents of current patients.
The new version of the website will also be readily translatable into Spanish, Portuguese,
French, Italian, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Russian. This will ensure that each
member of the diverse population being treated at the Floating can comfortable access health
information without feeling intimidated by a foreign language.
The design of the website will also be modified to be more modern and more visually
appealing. Firstly, the cubic nature of the pages will be revisited to feature colorful shapes as the
links to other pages. The toolbar will be moved to the top of the page and will feature more
specific headlines such as “Glossary of Illnesses,” “In-Treatment Services for Patients,” and
“Financial Support for Our Families.” Each headline will be accompanied by a drop down
menu, which will further segment the information by type. The website revision will be resource
intensive, but the most significant financial contribution will be a one time initial cost. After
that, the development professionals and website developers who currently manage the site could
continue. Analytical data regarding the visits to the site, the time spent on the site could be used
to judge the site’s success. Surveys could also be featured on the website, along with feedback
boxes so that the developers could receive continuous feedback about how to improve the
website.
4. Finally, the Department should develop a strategy to improve its branding as an organization.
While it is clear that the Department is associated with the Floating, a branding strategy would
allow it to create an identity for itself. This is particularly relevant given the extremely high risk
and vulnerable populations that oncology involves. A logo and tagline separate from those of the
Floating would be the first step. One tagline that might work well would be Caring for Our
Patients and Their Families. This tagline is particularly relevant in the case of the cancer
process because of the family-wide impact it can have. This also highlights the comprehensive
nature of the care that the Department provides, by showing concern for the family members
who can also have an effect on a patient’s health.
Alongside this family-centered branding strategy, the imagery on the website should be
changed to include pictures of physicians interacting with patients as well as with family
members of patients. The specific pictures could be tailored in accordance with the previously
mentioned segmentation guidelines. A parent whose child was beginning treatment would see
photos of parents next to their child during chemo administration as well as a reassuring nurse
administrating the treatment. An AYA survivor would see a picture of a healthy teenage patient
at a follow up appointment with a confident physician.
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An “About Us” section should also be provided on every version of the homepage. This
should feature an explicit mission statement regarding family centered care and long-term follow
up care. This section can also include an introduction to the different staff members of the
department as well as links to other portions of the site that explain the treatment process and the
physicians’ roles more explicitly.
This would, like the re-segmentation suggestion, be costly, but would also be a one-time
expense. Focus groups of Floating hospital patients, cancer survivors, and parents could be used
to evaluate test versions of proposed Department logos and taglines. Once a final branding
strategy is selected, questions about the tactics could be included in the previously mentioned
upkeep surveys featured on the website. Any revisions could be supervised by the marketing
team at the Floating as well as the web developers supervising the website.
Wild Recommendation
If all restrictions were removed, then a potential “wild” idea for the Floating’s
Hematology and Oncology Department to pursue would be to hold a three day conference to
celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the launch of the AYA cancer patients’ and survivors’
website. All interested users, provided they were available and healthy enough to travel or
attend, would be flown to Boston and accommodated at a local hotel. The conference would
consist of social events so that users could meet each other in person as well as information
sessions and guest speakers. The guess speakers could be nutritionists, oncologists, neurologists,
pediatricians, and other health care professionals.
The topics could include the transition from pediatric into adult care after cancer,
preventative screenings and tests, general diet and exercise sessions, and stress management
workshops. There can also be workshops about telling a boyfriend or girlfriend about one’s
health history and about healthy relationships in general. Social and recreational events would
be held throughout the weekend as well. Activities would be grouped by age and could include
visiting local colleges, ice cream socials, walking the freedom trail, visiting the aquarium, and
visiting the Floating. Team building and bonding exercises like scavenger hunts could also take
place. The weekend would feature support groups and therapy sessions for individuals still
struggling with processing the experience. This would be an invaluable way for these patients to
understand that they are not alone in their struggle and also to gain lifelong sources of support to
stay in touch with after the conference is over.
This type of weekend would provide an opportunity for patients who had not kept up
with their follow up care to schedule appointments with their physicians to have a check up
performed. This aspect of the conference would be the most appealing to the physicians
themselves as they would be able to reestablish an otherwise lost connection with former
pediatric cancer patients. The attendees could also be invited to participate in focus groups to
discuss what they like about the website as well as how it could be improved. They would be
compensated with health-related tools, such as yoga mats. The detailed feedback would be a
positive bi-product of this conference that could lead to an even more successful website for
AYA cancer patients and survivors.
Conclusions
The website of the Floating Hospital for Children’s Hematology and Oncology
Department holds great potential to develop a strong digital strategy. Through careful review of
the website as well as those of its competitors, I have recommended four initiatives aimed at
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improving the website and its ability to serve users. First, a revised social media, such as the
proposed option mentioned earlier, would further engage patients and their families. It would
also give the impression that the Floating is a tech-savvy and up to date institution that is in tune
with the communication methods of its patients and families. Second, the development of a
user-segmentation of the website will help provide more tailored information for parents to
ensure that they receive timely information in as efficient a manner as possible. Third, the
creation of a separate site for survivors and patients will provide support for the patients’
physical, mental, and social health no matter where they are. Fourth, a Department-specific
branding effort will highlight the Department’s unique features and its capability of
accommodating its patients as well as their families during the cancer process. Should the
Department follow these suggestions, it will be able to make a stronger impression on
prospective patients and families, develop a reputation as a reliable source of online, accessible
health information, provide support for its patients and families in the exam room as well as from
afar, and better fulfill its mission to serve as a comprehensive care provider.
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References
Floating Hospital for Children. 2013. Patient and family resources. Floating Hospital for
Children Hematology and Oncology Department Website. Retrieved, 2013, from
http://www.floatinghospital.org/OurServices/HematologyOncology/PatientFamilyResources/
Gallant, L., Irizarry, C., and Kreps, G.L. User-centric hospital web sites: a case for trust and
personalization. eService Journal. (2007). Retrieved, 2013, from
http://www.academia.edu/651371/Usercentric_hospital_websites_A_case_for_trust_and_personalization
Gustafson, D.H., Hawkins, R., McTavish, R., Pingree, S., Chen, W.C., Voltathongchair, K.,
Stengle, W., Stewart, J., and Serlin, R.C. internet-based interactive support for cancer patients:
are integrated systems better? Journal of Communication. (2008). 58: 238-257.
Lee, C., Gray, S.W., and Lewis, N. Internet use leads cancer patients to be active health care
consumers. Patient Education and Counseling. (2010). Retrieved, 2013, from
http://www.academia.edu/399734/Internet_use_leads_cancer_patients_to_be_active_health_care
_consumers
Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., and Zickuhr, K. Social media and young adults. (2010).
Pew Research Center. Retrieved, 2013, from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Mediaand-Young-Adults.aspx.
Stinson, J.N., White, M., Breakey, V., Chong, A.L., Mak, I., Low, K.K., and Low, A.K.
Perspectives on quality and content of information on the internet for adolescents with cancer.
(2011). 57:97-104.
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Appendix A
What Was Learned in the Process of Doing this Research
This research process taught me a great deal about the norms of pediatric hospital
websites. It was also extremely helpful in my concept for my thesis project in the fall. My
project will involve designing a website for AYA cancer patients and survivors, and this paper
helped me not only conceptualize, but also think about some of the institutional limitations of
such a site. I learned a lot about how social media can impact the impression that a website gives
its users as well as about the benefits of segmenting an audience by user type as well as by the
type of information that the user is seeking.
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Appendix B
About the Author
Sarah Soffer is about to begin the final semester of her work towards her Masters in
Public Health. She is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to Boston to attend Tufts
University as an undergraduate. At Tufts, she was a double major in Child Development and
Community Health, and was also on the Pre-Medicine track. Sarah also entered into the
BA/MPH dual degree program as a Junior and, after graduating magna cum laude from Tufts,
began her full-time Masters work at the Tufts University School of Medicine’s Public Health and
Professional Degree Program. She will spend the next year working on her thesis regarding a
web-based intervention for AYA cancer survivors as well as applying to medical school. Sarah
ultimately hopes to become a pediatrician.