Design with Mental
Health in Mind
Albert Kim
Karey Jo Wise

Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Personal Journey: Empathy Building
3. Current State of Global Mental Health
4. Stigma
5. Usability & Accessibility Suggestions
6. Inclusive Hiring
7. Equitable Workplace
8. Contact
2

Karey Jo Wise
Sr. Accessibility Engineer @
Pearson
Masters in Assistive Technology
CSUN 2020
Former Teacher of the Blind
Mom and Dog Mom
3

Karey Jo
GAD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
RSHL : Reverse Slope Hearing Loss
Glass Child: My Brother has multiple disabilities
Queer
4

Albert Kim
- Digital Accessibility Consultant
- Public Speaker
- Executive Director,
Accessibility NextGen
- Disability:IN NextGen Leader
- Teach Access Fellow
5

Mental Health Disorders
Incidence
• 1 in 5 Adults in the US
• 52.9 Million in 2020
• Common
• Higher incidence in
areas which have
suffered a hazardous
event
Increase
• 25% Increase in first
year of pandemic
• 58% of people ages
18 to 29 experience
high levels of
psychological distress
Treatment
Only half of people with
mental illness receive
treatment
• Stigma
• Poverty
• Lack of trained Mental
health professionals
6

Prevalence
of
Mental
Illnes
7

Stigma
• Popular Media Portrayal
• Casual Joke & Colloquial Expression
• Inspirational ”Porn” & Motivational Self-Help Quotes
• It’s not real. It’s all in your head.
• Character Flow/Weakness
• Accommodation is cheating
8

Visible Vs Invisible Stigma
9

Content Warnings
10

Filters
11

• Empathy
• Great teammate
• Perseverance
• Brainstorming ideas
• Creativity
• Ownership
• Responsibility
Hire More
12

Best Practices: Inclusive Hiring
• Create a simple process from application to onboarding
• Provide all applicants with interview questions or topics prior to
interview
• Include salary on the job listing
• Encourage disclosure
• Clear easily accessible accommodations
• Recordings & Documentation
• Guided step by step onboarding process
• Room for flexibility
• No sudden surprises
13

Best Practices: Building Equitable Workplace
• Simple Disclosure process
• Clear task communication
• One size fits all
• Agile: fast, fast, fast
• Negative feedback vs. Positive feedback
• Go as a team or alone?
• No assumptions
14

Contact Information
DJKAlbert@gmail.com
Linkedin.com/DJKAlbert
- Training
- Public Speaking
- Consulting
- Accessibility audits
Karey Jo Wise
Kareyjo.wise@pearson.com
Linkedin.com/in/KareyJoWise
-Accessibility Audits
-Disability Advocate
-Public Speaking
15
Albert Kim
May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

• https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-
triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-
worldwide
• https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/12/12/at-least-four-
in-ten-u-s-adults-have-faced-high-levels-of-psychological-
distress-during-covid-19-pandemic/
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638377/f
ull
Resources
20XX Pitch deck title 16