What can design do to public health?

On March 22, 2019, Patrick Whitney, founder of the Harvard D-Lab, and the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) faculty director Ashish Jha discussed with HGHI senior editor Stefanie Friedhoff what design can (and can't) do for public health.

The conversation was centered around the persistent challenges in health, and how their root causes are related to user experiences and other aspects of human life. Jha shared his journey from skepticism about design in public health to realizing that the discipline can expand public health’s ability to deal with the complexity of human behavior.

Throughout the conversation, Whitney brings groundbreaking insights about some of the most pressing issues in public health presented by Jha.

Vaccines avoidance, children with asthma, and the inclusion of the elderly are few of examples that provided a context for Patrick and Ashish to explore potential pathways to bridge the gap between design and public health.