How visual health histories can help military veterans

Last summer I had the opportunity to help ten local military veterans create visuals depicting their complex health histories and symptoms. This is what I do — my company, Pictal Health, helps people visualize their symptoms and health journey so they can communicate better with their doctors.

This project was funded through the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Spark-Seed-Spread Innovation Investment Program, which helps employees “design and test Veteran-centric solutions in a space free of operational day-to-day restrictions.” I collaborated over the course of the project with two psychiatrists working at the local Burlington, Vermont VA clinic: Dr. James Rustad and Dr. Sam Kohrman.

Here’s how the project worked, once we got it kicked off (thanks to Dr. Kohrman’s behind the scenes work). Dr. Rustad recruited some of his patients who had memory problems plus complex health issues. We scheduled a time for me to have an in-depth conversation with the patient (and often a caregiver or family member) onsite at the VA offices. After this meeting, I would go back to my office and put together visuals to represent the veteran’s story. I dropped these off at the VA before the patient’s next appointment with Dr. Rustad, and after the appointment, the patient and doctor both filled out post-appointment surveys.