Interdisciplinary perspectives on participatory practices in visualizing older adults’ health information.

This Mitacs Globalink Research Award will support a Ph.D. student (Freeman) on a 24-week research trip to Sweden from 30 June – 15 December. Freeman will be hosted at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden, and will travel within the region to conduct interviews that will form a major part of Freeman’s thesis research, in collaboration with her research host. Freeman’s thesis explores how collaborative design approaches can lead to the development of effective health information-sharing technologies that improve the care of older adults. The primary contribution of Freeman’s research will be recommendations for preparing diverse collaborators to be effective co-design partners. Understanding what different stakeholder groups seek from a co-design partnership is foundational to Freeman’s research. In Sweden, Freeman will interview academics and professionals with experience in age care, information visualization and co-design at Linnaeus University and other institutions in the region. Co-design has conceptual roots in the Participatory Design movements of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. This region also hosts leading information visualization researchers and designers. Connecting with researchers and practitioners in this region will enrich Freeman’s thesis research and academic career. Freeman’s thesis research will guide future productive co-design partnerships, generating novel and functional designs for health information-sharing tools.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lora Oehlberg

Student:

Partner:

Linnaeus University

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Information and Communications Technology; New and Digital Media

University:

University of Calgary

Program: