PRR Project

Summary

Tasks assigned to the prospective employee:develop proposals and apply for competitive funding to different programs at a national and international levels to support research projects related to design for health;Coordinate research projects;Conduct research and publish findings in peer-reviewed articles and books, contributing to the scientific literature on design for health;Organising conferences and other scientific events at the best research practices level hosted by ID+/University of Aveiro;Strengthen connections with research centers that are leading research within the SDGs above-mentioned as, among others, KU Leuven, Belgium – LUCAS - Centre for Care Research & Consultancy, Maastricht University, The Netherlands – Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Galway, Ireland – Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland – School of Social Work and Social Policy, Design School Kolding, Denmark-Lab for Social Design, University College Cork, Ireland – School of Applied PsychologySupervise Master and PhD students;To the prospective employee is required a  relevant knowledge in communication design and design for health, experience  in research practices and grant writing and relevant international network connections.It is expected that the prospective employee shows experience in:Project management activities, including resource allocation, justification of expenses, co-development of reports, organization of team meetings and researcg imapct assessment;Research competences  on design for health: the methodological knowledge and soft skills to conduct participatorydesign with people with communication difficulties or are hard-to-reach;Close collaboration with health-related scientific areas;Track record of writing, developing, publishing and curating peer-reviewed international articles and book chapters;Experience in co-organizing conferences and events such as exhibitions and workshops;Active participation in conferences and presentations of research work in relevant scientific communities;Ability to supervise students (Master and PhD) and engage in other academic activities.Rationale for the Need to Hire for the Indicated Scientific Area:The potential of design to contribute to innovation within healthcare has already been recognised. The revised conceptual framework of health “ One Health”, described by the World Health Organization as “ an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment” , makes the intervention of design even more necessary. Hence, design for health that must be further developed to tackle contemporary challenges such as responding to the needs of an ageing population, addressing mental health needs, supporting cancer care and research, encouraging the prevention and control of diseases (such as diabetes and hypertension), improving health literacy so that people can be empowered and autonumous to make informed decisions, contributing to the sustainability of the national health system, among others. In addition, considering the rights-based argument of “nothing about us without us”, values of person-centred care and the emerging personalised medicine model, research on design for health should include those who will be impacted by the research and contributing to public patient involvement initiatives, through participatory design approaches.The hiring of a prospective employee with a scientific profile focused on design for health plays, then, a core role in the strategic plan to promote, through design, a national and international research network in the partnership with professionals and institutions in the healthcare sector. It is to explore as well how design can mediate the engagement of people and support health communication and literacy. In that line it is additionally important to map design for health initiatives in Portugal, with a view to have a deeper knowledge of this ecosystem, to foster new partnerships and the identification of research opportunities. ID+ supports and is focused on developing  research towards the promotion of health, including mental health, and subjective well-being of different people, regardless of age, situation and ability.