OVERVIEW
Stanford University's Healthcare Design Challenge is a highly selective academic competition focused on healthcare innovation and implementation. We were to design a financially sustainable and scalable solution tailored for vulnerable populations that effectively addresses their social determinants of health (SDOH) needs to improve health outcomes.
Our project aims to improve data collection on children with parental SUD for early intervention. We are partnered with NACaO, the prestigious and oldest organization working in this space. We will be collaborating with behavioral and SUD-assessment specialists to develop our product.
Below is our pitch presentation. It is presented by my twin sister (Alsa Khan) and I (Muhammad Jee).
👩💻 Type: Project/Competition
🏆 Award: Finalist at Stanford Healthcare Design Challenge
💡 Partnership: National Association for Children of Addiction (NACaO)
🗓️ Timeline: Nov 2024 - Present
PROBLEM & MOTIVATION
Parental substance use disorder (SUD) affects over 8.7 million U.S. children, increasing their risk of emotional neglect and physical abuse by 4 times, as well as their risk of depression and poor academic performance. These adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase risks for acute and chronic illnesses with lifelong mental and emotional implications as well. The total economic burden for children with parental SUD, including medical spending and lost healthy life-years in adulthood, is $765.6 billion annually in the U.S. alone.
There is a critical gap in existing screening tools to identify young children at risk due to parental SUD. The Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) is one of the few assessments specifically aimed at detecting the impact of parental SUD. However, the CAST is designed for older children and adults, as it requires answering confrontational, rigid questions that are not suitable for younger children. Additionally, while questionnaires such as the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) assess children’s general mental health, they fail to represent children who are specifically impacted by parental SUD. These questionnaires are often filled out by a parent, which may negatively affect the accuracy and completeness of the information gathered.
Early childhood is a critical foundational period for social and emotional development. In this time, children between the ages of 5 and 8 become increasingly aware of their surroundings and begin facing challenges with emotional regulation. This creates an urgent need for child-friendly and age-appropriate approaches to enable accurate data collection for early detection of risk, which can ultimately inform timely interventions.