Ryerson University's Healthcare User Experience (HUE) Lab receives government funding for vaccine innovation in its first week
Dr. Jessica Mudry, Director of The HUE Lab at The Creative School
June 10, 2021 (Toronto, ON) - Ryerson University (opens in new window) launches the Healthcare User Experience (HUE) Lab (external link, opens in new window) at The Creative School (opens in new window) , a new creative research space that uses the human-centred principles of innovation, design, and strategic communication to improve the healthcare experience for both patients, and practitioners. The lab, in partnership with local health units, received a national grant in its first week of operation with HUE Lab Director Jessica Mudry awarded funding as part of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Vaccine Community Innovation Challenge (external link, opens in new window) — an initiative supporting projects promoting vaccine confidence in diverse Canadian communities. With the support of faculty and students who are committed to equity, community, and collaboration, the HUE Lab unites design thinking, interdisciplinary teamwork and knowledge mobilization strategies to solve healthcare challenges and improve healthcare for the users.
“Good healthcare requires paying close attention to the needs of patients and medical professionals, but not all of those can be solved by science,” says Dr. Jessica Mudry, Director of the HUE Lab and Associate Professor, Associate Chair & Undergraduate Program Director of the School of Professional Communication at The Creative School. “Good design and communication can help foster better healthcare outcomes by addressing the needs of the person behind the label of ‘patient’ or ‘practitioner’. Our first grant is small, but it points to the important and myriad ways that the humanities need to be involved in making populations healthier.”
Applying human-centred communications strategies and design thinking to healthcare
The project, ‘Vax and Snax: Increasing vaccine confidence and uptake among Toronto’s underhoused communities’ has been approved for $5,000 in funding to assist in its development and promotion of vaccine confidence through targeted, informed and culturally sensitive community campaigns aimed at underserved communities and communities greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Creative School’s launch of the Healthcare User Experience Lab will be focused on supporting healthcare practitioners by developing new ways of communicating and engaging patients,” says The Creative School Dean Charles Falzon. “We are proud to be in discussion with leading health partners in Toronto and around the world to apply creative thinking and ingenuity to Canada’s health sector. The Creative School stands by its commitment to apply creativity and design thinking not only within the professional creative industries, in which we are recognized as leaders, but as collaborators in other disciplines and fields.”
Along with critical communication strategies, the Covid-19 global pandemic has also highlighted the need for creative and innovative design in healthcare today. Many aspects of medicine have shifted from in-person, clinic appointments to mediated virtual visits creating a critical need for creative, thoughtful and socially relevant interface design to support the practice of virtual medicine ethically, equitably and with equal accessibility. The shift to virtual medicine and online care can be convenient, easy, and safe providing both the patients and practitioners have easy access to information, patient dossiers, able-appropriate technologies and private spaces in which to hold the appointments. Filling these gaps in service guided by the principles of ethical and culturally comprehensive communication practices will be the primary objective of the HUE Lab.
HUE Lab Design Jam launch event
The recent Design Jam kickoff event on May 27th provided teams of students opportunities to address the challenges of virtual medicine - brought into sharp relief during the pandemic - with an eye towards human-centred design and effective communication skills. A team of expert panelists participated in the event and included Chantel Marshall (Sherbourne Health), Dr. Ifran Dhalla (Care Experience Institute), Dr.Trevor Jamieson (Unity Health), and Dr. Jessica Mudry (Professional Communication & HUE Lab).
The Lab takes a creative and transdisciplinary approach to problem-solving within the healthcare industry, applying communication and design strategies with focus areas that include health communication, process design, product design, and product prototyping. The HUE Lab's goal is to keep human-centred research, creative design thinking, and clear and ethical communication as pillars of its healthcare research projects with hopes for better health outcomes for patients, practitioners, and, ultimately, the community.
About The Creative School
The Creative School is a dynamic faculty making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Comprised of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.