Brining a Public Health Lens to Design Research

Transcript

1. Bringing a public health lens to design research Kelly Henderson, MPH
2. Intro – My background – Purpose of this talk – 1) Offer a brief overview the field of public health – 2) Share a variety of a public health frameworks, tools, and methods – 3) Describe ideas for how you can apply a public health lens to your design research practice
3. Public Health Overview Public Health Definition and Core Elements Definition Public health practice can be viewed as an approach to maintaining and improving the health of populations that is based on the principles of social justice, attention to human rights and equity, evidence-informed policy and practice, and addressing the underlying determinants of health https://www.cpha.ca/public-health-conceptual-framework
4. Four Public Health Tools & their Application to Design Research
5. Public Health Framework: Social and environmental determinants of health Social and environmental determinants of health The social and environmental determinants of health are the conditions of daily life in which individuals are born, grow, live, work and age Examples of social and environmental determinants • Employment opportunities and wages • Housing conditions • Access to and affordability of transportation • Social or cultural norms and attitudes • Exposure to crime and violence • Access to healthful foods and safe parks • Quality of schools • Residential segregation • Air and water quality Tool #1
6. Public Health Framework: Social Ecological Model Social Ecological Model Social ecological models conceptualize individuals as embedded within larger social systems and help describe the interactive characteristics of individuals and environments that can cause specific health behaviors and outcomes Tool #2
7. Public Health Framework: Social Ecological Model Social Ecological Model Tool #2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3916095/
8. à Public health Lens for Design Research Using both the social and environmental determinants of health framework and the social ecological model helps you to ZOOM OUT and see design problems from broader system level perspective • A public health lens helps push beyond primarily conceptualizing users experience as individual attributes such as attitudes, knowledge, beliefs to seeing users embedded within broader social and environmental systems and helping to identify a wider range of possibilities for design solutions Examples Redlining Transportation issues Social isolation Application to Design Research
9. Public Health Tool: Participatory Research Methods Digital storytelling Digital storytelling is an arts-based research method where people create a 3-5 minute video that includes a variety of multimedia materials such as photos, participant voices, drawings, and music Tool #3 Photovoice Photovoice is a visual research method that puts cameras into the participants’ hands to help them to document, reflect upon, and communicate opportunities or concerns, and help support efforts at bringing about social change Story Circle Script writing & revising Digital media production Story screening Introduction to Photovoice Taking Photos Discussing photos Exhibit
10. à Public health Lens for Design Research Using participatory art and visually based research methods helps you to ZOOM IN and get a nuanced understanding of an individual’s lived experience or how they are using a product or service • These two methods not only help in gaining deeper insight into lived experience of the users, they were also designed specifically to have tangible outcomes that can be screened, exhibited, showcased--helping bring to light the stories so that stakeholders can learn about user problems and experiences Application to Design Research https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4419708/ https://www.storycenter.org/case-studies/gojoven Examples
11. Public Health Framework: Ethical decision-making Ethical decision-making There are a number of public health frameworks aimed at supporting ethical decision-making and evaluation of programs, interventions, and policies. They help set ethical boundaries as well as ethical foundation for public health Decision-Making Triangle • DMT consists of top ten ethical principles, evidence, and theory and is designed to assess possible improvement actions and compare potential actions • This framework emphasizes the explicit application of a particular set of ethical principles https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/23/4/380/630187 Tool #4
12. à Public health Lens for Design Research Using ethical decision-making frameworks and lessons from past research in public health can serve as reminders to keep ethical principles top of mind and KEEP IN FOCUS as decisions are made throughout the design research process • Using a public health lens can help encourage that decisions are guided by and place ethics in the front and center from establishing a recruitment plan to determining specific design recommendations Examples Application to Design Research Questions to keep in mind: v To what extent are all users benefiting from this design? v What user population does not benefit or is getting left behind? v To what extent does this design empower users? Recruitment Fieldwork Design Recommendations
13. Key Takeaways: Public Health Lens For Design Research Using a public health lens within design research offers you the ability to: 1. Zoom out and get a bird’s eye view from multiple angles àUsing social and environmental determinants of health framework and social ecological model 2. Zoom in and see intersections that previously weren’t apparent àUsing participatory research methods 3. Keep in focus àUsing ethical decision-making frameworks and lessons from public health research
14. Thank you! Please stay in touch Email: Kelly.henderson02@gmail.com Twitter: @Hendo