Carmen Scherbaum

Carmen Scherbaum is a young hybrid designer bridging digital, industrial, and UX design. She holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Design from the University of Wuppertal, Germany. In summer 2018 she qualified as a Master of Science (Digital Design) from the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam (HvA). Her special interest in healthcare is born from an exciting work experience at the R&D Department of Philips Healthcare both in Germany and in the USA, and also from a scholarship at the R&D Department of Ethicon – Johnson & Johnson in the USA. She has gained work experience as a Junior Industrial Designer at Wilddrsign in Germany, one of Europe`s leading design agencies in the medical and healthcare industry.

PRESENTATION 2018

Spirit
“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a distressing and debilitating condition affecting 1-2% of the population. Patients who suffer from OCD are driven by unreasonable thoughts and unwarranted fears, referred mostly to as “obsessions”, that make them feel anxious and distressed. Only about half of the people offered Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) show recovery after the therapy mainly because ~25% of patients drop out early. Even for those who continue with the therapy, many do not regularly engage in ERP tasks because they have no structural guidance to monitor their effects.

We created SPIRIT, a mobile application as a readily available treatment tool that assists therapy and improves the life of people suffering from obsessive cognitive disorder (OCD). This app should be suitable for appropriate exercises to be applied for self-treatment at home or in certain situations under the auspices of an expert therapist. The gamification and competitive elements of the app appear to be suitable for OCD patients and motivate them to perform the tasks. The app enables a documentation of the exercises and the progress with cognitive behavioral therapy as well as an interaction with the therapist.”