Health and well-being in design education: developing and exploring student perceptions of an interdisciplinary course

Abstract

The need for design solutions in shaping individual, societal, and planetary health and wellbeing becomes more visible every day due to complex and multi-dimensional societal and environmental transformations. Thus, 'design for health and wellbeing' has begun to be considered separately as an area itself and this is currently resonating in design education. However, there has been no study providing a detailed account of a dedicated 'design for health and wellbeing' course and exploring students' perceptions of it. This paper presents a 'design for health and wellbeing' course offered to students from mixed disciplinal backgrounds and levels. Students' perceptions were elicited via in-depth interviews. By sharing the decisions made in developing and delivering this interdisciplinary course, and examining how students experienced it, this study aims to serve as both an inspirational resource and a discussion point for educators in the field of 'design for health and well-being'.