The Health by Design Lab is a research group using design thinking and systems level approaches to understand, research, evaluate, and solve complex applied public health challenges. We design and assess information and places – and the policies and systems that shape them – to promote health and prevent disease. Our team performs applied public health research, advocacy, and knowledge mobilization in areas such as health and risk communication, competency development in the public health workforce, and evidence-based climate adaptation in environmental design. We use mixed methods and interdisciplinary approaches, collaborating with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners across disciplines, including public health, communication, and landscape architecture. The Health by Design Lab is directed by Dr. Jennifer McWhirter in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
“To design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”
Herbert Simon, 1969