Personas

1. Personas Group 4 Alison, Christine, Jared, Sheryl

2. Joe Friedman 75-year old white widower is a retired steel-worker who moved to Boston from Pittsburgh to be near his grandkids. He has health insurance and pension, but limited income. His health issues include Type 2 DM, family history of melanoma, and had chicken pox as a child. Joe does not own a computer and goes to his local library to meet friends and log in. He does not see his doctor often, but does trust his opinion. He does not question what his doctor advises.

3. Joe Friedman He wakes up at 6:30am to meet his friend Al at Dunkin Donuts to have breakfast and talk about sports. After breakfast, Joe walks into his local CVS and he sees a poster about the Shingles vaccine while he picks up his prescription. He calls his doctor to ask his opinion about the vaccine, but his doctor is out of town and he does not want to ask any of the other doctors. On his daily visit to the library, he asks the librarian where he can find any information on the Shingles vaccine; and she refers him to the Massachusetts Medical Society website, where he finds resources to make his decision.

4. Sonya Hernandez Sonya is a 32 year-old single mother of a 13 year-old boy, named Jesus. They live in Chelsea, MA where she works as a home healthcare aid, and he attends public school, where he is a good students and plays clarinet in the school marching band. She is concerned about her son being bullied by kids at the school because he doesn’t want to play sports or join a gang. She does a search online for information on what she should do to help her child. She comes across the MMS website, where they announce that they are holding a forum at the State House on teen bullying.

5. Tiffany Smith Tiffany earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry last year. She has been actively looking for a job since graduation from Boston University. She thought that she wouldn’t have a problem finding a job because she maintained a good GPA and graduated Summa Cum Laude. She has been feeling anxious and depressed because the only work she could find is a serving job at California Pizza Kitchen. Her parents want her to come home to Providence. She has had trouble sleeping and hasn’t had much of an appetite lately. She is continuing to suffer from emotional distress and does not know how to cope with the stress and the uncertainty of her future. She goes online to get more insight on depression and her mental wellness. She finds the MMS website where they have an article on life transitions and stress management. She also finds on the website opportunities for work using her Chemistry degree! 

6. Samuel Specter 35 year-old African American attorney who is in a blues band is diagnosed with MS. He can’t take medications because he has allergies to a lot of them. He has chronic pain and hasn’t been able to find anything to manage it. While he can work as a corporate attorney, this pain is becoming to wreak havoc on his life and he needs help immediately. He is a father to two children and needs to support his family. He heard about the legalization of medical marijuana on NPR. He logs on to Twitter to see that #medicalmarijuana is trending and clicks on it. He finds the MMS through the Twitter feed.