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Preview of Monday's Activities
Events of the Day
The Impact of Climate Change in Young Adults’ Mental Health
This research project is seeking to understand attitudes in young adults (18-24) regarding climate change and how it affects mental health and health behaviors. We hypothesize that the environmental risk wrought by climate change and the national conversation on sustainability likely leads to a spectrum of beliefs, behaviors, and values regarding personal agency and resilience, which we are loosely defining as climate nihilism, climate ambivalence, and climate hope. Design probes were developed to explore connections between university students’ climate change attitudes and their health during the first phase of this research. Thematic analysis of probes (replete with elicitive drawing, etched stone, mapping, and writing activities) revealed a rich spectrum of climate change perceptions, eco-emotions, and key areas of impact.
Estefania Ciliotta
Post-Doctoral Strategist & Researcher, Center for Design
Sara Carr
Assistant Prof. Architecture, Program Director for Masters of Design in Sustainable Urban Environments
Miso Kim
Assistant Professor, Art + Design
Michael Arnold Mages
Assistant Professor, Design, Experience Design, Information Design
Susan Mello
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Presentation Recording
Presentation PDF
Climate Change and Mental Health_CfD_Presentation for Design Research Week.pdfKey takeaways
The research team presented their preliminary results by using probes and activities to gather data from the target audience.
They used material objects as key drivers of their research.
Preliminary results suggest that young adults are taking the burden of climate change which is affecting their mental health – i.e. with issues such as stress, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness, and other concerns including:
Impacts on human conditions
Weather change and natural disasters
Direct health issues (e.g. more pandemics)
Impact on the ecosystems
Lack of resources
However, there was some indication of coping mechanisms that shed light on potential future interventions to address young adults' mental health.
The audience engaged with the presenters actively and loved the innovative and playful approach of the research method for addressing such a critical issue.
Conversations included the potential of addressing the issue with the development of some sort of toolkit – digital or physical (or both) – to help young adults cope with climate change in healthier ways.
For more information on this project email Estefania Ciliotta at e.ciliottachehade@northeastern.edu
Design For Empowered Patientship. Mapping the Boston Healthcare Ecosystem
This research team is mapping the healthcare ecosystems of Boston and Milan, exploring the co-design and co-production processes that contain evidence of patient-driven innovation. The project observes and maps different scenarios in which design plays a role in the interdisciplinary innovation process, mapping experiences and practices of products-services, technologies, organizational processes, initiatives, public programs or actions, and policies—with the goal of pinpointing and connecting this emergent knowledge to the actors’ system that produced them. The mapping of the Boston healthcare ecosystem will be compared with Milano’s to clarify the nature of the empowered patientship and identify opportunities for strategic cross-connections and research initiatives through interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. The project aims to promote a cure to care cultural, pragmatic, and interdisciplinary transition in healthcare systems; nurturing a patient-centric development of new products-services to provide more agency and choices to patients and promote health equity and inclusion (meaning impact on individual satisfaction and community welfare).
Estefania Ciliotta
Post-Doctoral Strategist & Researcher, Center for Design
Paolo Ciuccarelli
Founding Director, Center for Design; Professor of Design
Miso Kim
Assistant Professor, Art + Design
Stefano Maffei
Full Professor, Design Ph. D., Design Department, Politecnico di Milano
Michael Arnold Mages
Assistant Professor, Design, Experience Design, Information Design
Presentation Recording
Presentation PDF
Presentation Design Research Week 2022_Stefano and Miso 0425.pptxKey takeaways:
This is a collaborative project between the Center for Design at CAMD and Politecnico di Milano that aims at understanding the healthcare ecosystems in Boston and Milan by researching patient-centric approaches to healthcare solutions and interventions.
The hope is to find broader collaborations among different stakeholders to develop initiatives and opportunities for patient innovation in the USA and Italy, moving from “cure” to “care”.
The team presented cases found during the first phase of the research and the next steps of creating an interactive map showcasing these projects in the Greater Boston area.
The team is further analyzing the cases as well as definitions of patient-centeredness from the literature to identify similarities and differences among real-world practices and applications of patient-centeredness.
The audience engaged with researchers discussing ley questions like:
What is patient-centeredness in healthcare?
What are some current problems people experience with healthcare?
What does your ideal future patient experience look like?
The audience agreed and shared their interest in this project as a means to enhance the well-being, dignity, and equity of society as a whole.
Next future steps include:
Develop metrics of patient-centeredness
Identify opportunities and strategies for healthcare design
Secure funding for patient innovation initiatives in the US and Italy
For more information on this project email Estefania Ciliotta at e.ciliottachehade@northeastern.edu
Uncovering: MFA Students’ Thesis Exhibition
“Uncovering” is the act of removing a barrier and revealing what was previously unknown; exposing what was formerly hidden from view. It is an act driven by curiosity and can lead to an enhanced understanding of traditionally shrouded topics. In the 2022 MFA Thesis Exhibition, we use uncovering as a means to share our explorations into areas that we found meaningful, yet commonly overlooked. What happens when we seek to understand the elements of our lives that often remain covered, unnoticed, and unknown? Design is intelligence made visible. — Alina Wheeler, author
An Exploration of Active Play: from infancy to adolescence and beyond
In the United States of America, active play is a fundamental aspect of many early childhood experiences. Beginning with the development of the most basic motor skills as infants, young children go on to utilize play as a mechanism for developing a wide array of skills that set them up for a lifetime of activity. The act of play provides a unique outlet for children to learn how to cultivate social skills, continue to advance their motor skills, and build an overall foundation for lifelong physical literacy. Despite being a pillar of early childhood development, playing is often brushed aside as children age into adolescence. This exhibition will showcase the various stages of human development, and frame the overall importance of playing in the lives of people.
Liz Kantak
MFA Information Design and Visualization
“Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving.”
— Susan Linn
City Impressions: belonging and living in Boston
Do you ever have a moment when you feel you really belong to the city? Do you get the feeling that you are part of the community, and have a strong connection with the neighborhood you live in at that moment? This exhibition will show how new residents learn of new places in Boston, how to build connections with the city, and where people feel a sense of belonging. By interacting with several artifacts, visitors will gain a better understanding of the city – it will be a memorable experience for everyone.
Qinzhe Chen
MFA Experience Design
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