Design + Wellbeing

Design + Wellbeing is one of three strategic research themes in Northumbria School of Design, which cuts across all of our core areas of design expertise.

Our research within the Design + Wellbeing theme includes work that explores the ways carefully designed artefacts, services and systems can promote wellbeing, as well as research that explores the benefits to wellbeing that comes from engaging in making, collaborative design and creative practice.

Research in this theme takes a broad view of wellbeing, from looking at the role of design in improving healthcare service delivery and intervention design, to designing new systems and technologies that enable physical health, mental health and wellbeing promotion for individuals living with specific conditions. We take a view that design has an important role to play in promoting wellbeing within communities, and in creating public spaces and forms of civic engagement that support the wellbeing of all citizens. Our research also looks at the benefits that participation in design activities and creative practice can have on the wellbeing of those involved in co-creative design work.

To explore examples of our Design + Wellbeing research, please visit our dedicated Northumbria Design Research website.