The Challenge
- In 2022, Biden announced plan for administration to “build new easy-to-access, online treatment locator tools”
- Initial user research findings suggest many people do not know how to find good behavioral health treatment
- Challenges for finding a behavioral health provider are systemic, specifically around insurance coverage, availability, and reviews
- SAMHSA still new to providing consumer instead of provider-facing content (findtreatment.gov)
The Opportunity
- A “wizard” that allows people to get the content they need (e.g., what are the signs that my loved one is depressed?, does my health insurance have to cover drug rehab?)
- Traditionally, SAMHSA has provided web content for clinicians, researchers, and stakeholders. To date, it has not been charged with becoming the one-stop-shop for behavioral health consumer content
- By providing this wrap-around content that breaks down barriers to accessing care and connecting people to the right directory for their insurance status, we can get people seeking behavioral healthcare to move from preparation to action.
The Process
Coordinating Launch
For our marketing launch, I created a communications plan that included the following:
- Key dates
- General talking points for the project
- Communication goals
- Priority audience segments
- Communications timeline
- Relevant government-wide speaking events
- Press release (I authored on behalf of SAMHSA)
- Sample artifacts for omni-marketing channels
Aligning Work-streams
This project really embraced design-forward and trauma-informed product development. As the team’s product manager, I worked hard to ensure visibility and clarity across our Digital Service at CMS, SAMHSA, and White House Domestic Policy Council colleagues.
Coda and Jira served as essential for understanding how our work moved forward and identifying when our team needed to pivot based on design research insights.
I learned a lot about the tension between policy an implementation as we learned how to manage expectations and illustrate to senior leadership how our product solved users core needs.