Scripps Seniors Improve Access to Hepatitis C Testing with LA County

For a senior thesis in Human-Centered Design (HCD), Zo Pancoast (Scripps ’25) collaborated with Jay Renaker (Scripps ’25) on a project that used design research to identify and address a pressing public health challenge: improving access to hepatitis C testing for unhoused individuals in Los Angeles County. Partnering with the LA County Department of Public Health and the LA County Department of Health Services, they worked closely with county officials, caseworkers, and medical staff at recuperative care sites, interim housing for people experiencing housing insecurity and medical crises.

These sites offered a unique opportunity to problem-solve using HCD. Hepatitis C treatment is accessible and curative, yet many people who test positive never get treated. Zo and Jay discovered that while the sites were full of dedicated staff providing intensive support, testing for hepatitis C wasn’t part of their intake or care processes. With mentorship from the Hive’s Asha Srikantiah and staff from LA County, Zo and Jay proposed a pilot system entailing the distribution of rapid hepatitis C test kits to recuperative care sites, and incorporating testing into the intake process. Their idea was straightforward and impactful, and as Zo put it, “The best design solutions aren’t always flashy or new. Sometimes they’re existing systems applied in the right way, at the right time.” Their plan leveraged the existing infrastructure and support in these sites to deliver tangible results with quick implementation in the form of preventative care.

Through the project, the students successfully bridged operational gaps between the Communicable Disease Team and Housing for Health within two LA County departments, as well as centered and amplified the voices and needs of staff from the recuperative care sites. They presented their final deliverable, a thorough report detailing the logistics, strategy, and metrics for a hepatitis C testing pilot to be adopted by the sites, to LA County Officials at the Hive in May, receiving high praise from the doctors and staff involved for the incisiveness and practicality of the idea.

Both students shared that the project showed them that even small design interventions in complex systems can have real, physical impacts on people’s lives. Zo says, “I think it’s easy to feel disheartened with the state of public health or government systems in general, and it can feel hard to make things happen. For me, it was amazing to see this desire for innovation within the Department of Public Health, within Housing For Health, and everyone we talked to, and also seeing the commitment of caseworkers, medical staff, and nurses to their clients, really providing exceptional care, was inspiring for me.” Jay emphasized how much she learned from the people she met during the process. “There was already so much creativity and care happening at these sites, which played a role in some of our ‘a-ha moments’ in reframing this design problem. It felt huge, and we wondered, ‘How are we as students supposed to solve massive barriers in a fragmented healthcare system?’ But we realized this was an untapped space that we could shed light on for our partners. We just helped make it more visible, and that was really cool.”