29 Jun 2022 / News about students

Meaningful communication to the family in crisis

When the municipality convenes a family for a conversation about a child's well-being, the family will often experience fear in regard to the process. Designer Runa Eggers Rossau has rethought the communication.
By Charlotte Melin

Visible bruises, too high absenteeism in school, social complications or behavioural problems. There can be numerous indications that a child is not thriving. And anyone who observes something that does not seem quite right can make a report to the social services. It may be a private person, but typically it will be a school teacher, a kindergarten/nursery school teacher or perhaps a school nurse since since, as professional groups, they are subject to an extended reporting duty. In Vejle Municipality, the notification is addressed to the municipality's Recipient Team in the Family and Disability Department, and this is the department with whom Runa Eggers Rossau, a newly graduated designer from Design School Kolding, has collaborated on her project.

Unanswered questions create insecurity

- When the Reception Team receives a notification, it is their job to convene the family for an interview. The summons letter is the first step in a longer process, and it is that communication and that process that I have explored in my graduation project, and subsequently redesigned, she says. Runa wanted to make the process more transparent for the families, and thus minimize the number of unanswered questions that could potentially spur anxiety and insecurity. She therefore analysed all the existing points of contact between municipality and family, and on that basis she designed what she calls a service journey, reinforced by several products.

From clinical to unambiguous

- The first element of the journey is the summons letter. In its original form, it was a very 'clinical' letter that failed to mention the background for the summons, and no attempt was made to alleviate the family’s anxiety. In my version, the summons helps the family to understand what it's all about – who they are going to meet, what will be jointly investigated, and what opportunities for support the family may encounter, says Runa.

A purely practical part of the summons was a travel guide.

- In my communication, I included something as matter-of-fact as parking options and the route to the waiting room, because having to find your way to a public meeting when you are already nervous can easily cause additional stress, she explains.

Meeting at eye level
In addition to the summons letter, Runa has also redesigned a brochure that explains the meeting in detail, optional preparation material for the parents including a number of tasks and a visual meeting tool. The latter must be placed on the meeting table, not used, for example, on a whiteboard on the wall, because thus both parties are at eye level with each other in the process. 

Runa Eggers Rossau has just graduated with a Master’s degree in Social Design with a focus on Communication Design from Design School Kolding. She is already working with graphic design, and the visual element in particular played an important role in the project.

- I have worked with verbal but also with visual issues. It actually makes a difference in such a sensitive communication that the letter is written in a reader-friendly and welcoming font, she explains.

Runa has received feedback on the project from both the parent group and the Reception Team, and the latter has reported that they want to test and implement the design solution together with Vejle Municipality's Innovation Team.

- Visual design is most likely part of my future career plan, but combined with the social aspect. And in this project, it has been great to use my skills to have a meaningful impact on people who are in a vulnerable situation.

Focus group
A significant part of Runa's design process was the exploratory phase in which she worked with the vulnerable target group.

- In addition to my close collaboration with the municipal team, I was allowed to get close to a parent group, where the majority had gone through a summons process. It turned out that the summons to the meeting typically set off a lot of fear and anxiety. For what could happen? The most fundamental fear that spontaneously arose in the parents was that the municipality could decide to take their children from them. But in addition, there were many other unanswered questions, and they became the starting point for redesigning the entire process.

The designer
Runa Eggers Rossau - Master’s in Communication Design/Design for People, June 2022, Design School Kolding.

About the project
"From Recipient to Partner"

When a school teacher, a kindergarten/nursery school teacher or a nurse in Vejle observes that a child is not thriving, it is the Reception Team at the Family and Disability Department that receives the concern in the form of a notification. They convene the child's family and network for a meeting where they must jointly evaluate the child's situation and find out what support the municipality can provide to the family. For many families, the system and the process lack transparency, and the municipal language can seem incomprehensible or harsh. That is why Runa Eggers Rossau has designed a service that equips the parents for the meeting, and she has created tools for an effective and equal collaboration between parents and the municipality.

“I have worked with verbal but also with visual issues. It actually makes a difference in such a sensitive communication that the letter is written in a reader-friendly and welcoming font.”