The Health Design Research Innovation Project

The Health Design Research Innovation Project (HDI) is a program of interdisciplinary research and coursework exploring urban health and environments through the processes of human-centered design leading to innovation. Supported by a local foundation, HDI is entering its third year of a four-year pilot and involves collaboration between design research and public health faculty. This work integrates social determinants of health into the consideration of design solutions for housing insecurity and urban living environments. Scale, economics, and resources are factors in the built environment that influence the health of a space, especially in urban settings. The faculty here have developed a research program, including an interdisciplinary course piloted spring 2016, which examines how Health and Design research inform innovative thinking for behavioral health in underserved communities, especially around topics such as eviction, shelter and wraparound services. This program is predicated on the struggle of a society with multifaceted health challenges. These challenges now require knowledge contributions from multiple disciplines (O'Campo 2012). The HDI Program seeks to challenge and train students to meet these new challenges.   KEYWORDS: Health Research, Social Justice Design, Advocacy, Housing Insecurity, Design Research, Culture of Health