Do you want to contribute to a better world? Then join us in the challenge to make the world healthier! In this minor, you will discover how you, as a professional, can contribute to create equal health opportunities for everyone. On behalf of a large organization, you will work on practical solutions for urgent health and well-being issues and investigate the support that technology can provide. For example: What is needed to reduce the increasing number of bicycle accidents? Can we involve places of worship in encouraging a healthy lifestyle among their members?

We will use the method of design thinking: together with fellow-students you will explore the problem and come up with a creative solution. You will try out your prototype.

The experience with this minor gives you a good basis to work as a professional on complex issues for a healthy future!

As a professional with the ambition to come up with creative and innovative ideas to help shape transitions for better health(care), you will be able to:

Articulate health(care) challenges: to provide a well-structured argument regarding the health(care) challenges in the coming years, taking into consideration social and demographic factors. (Type: Knowledge)

Analyze the coherence of personal lifestyle and living conditions and health (including regulation and legislation) along with the repercussions at the boundaries of healthcare delivery. (Type: Knowledge)

Evaluate the effectiveness and efficacy of available solutions for health(care) challenges and assess which combinations of interventions are most effective with regard to a specific health(care) challenge and tailored to specific target groups. (Type: Skill)

Devise innovative solutions for complex health(care) challenges: generate practical and creative solutions for intricate challenges in the field of health and well-being. (Type: Skill)

Explore technological solutions: investigate technological solutions that can be applied to address health(care) issues. (Type: Skill)

Collaboratively analyze and define healthcare challenges: collaboratively analyze and construct an accurate problem description for a health issue  through co-creation. (Type: Skill)

Provide and receive feedback for personal and professional growth: actively engage in giving and receiving feedback to reflect on your personal contributions to co-creation processes aimed at solving health(care) challenges. (Type: Attitude)

Reflect on personal and professional identity: engage in reflective practice to examine your personal identity in relation to your identity as a professional contributing to a healthier world. (Type: Attitude)

Studying in the 3rd  or 4th year. And with an interest in and affinity with the field of health and well-being. Knowledge and experience with this field is not necessary: each student brings relevant knowledge and insights from their own field in order to create an innovative solution through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Literature will partly be provided by the lecturers. Students are stimulated to search for relevant, actual literature themselves or collect information by talking to experts or interviewing target groups.

12 contact hours per week (blended). Contact hours are scheduled on Mondays (at THUAS campus) and on Thursdays (at THUAS campus or online to allow parttime students to participate).

We follow the principles of programmatic testing and collect information about the learning progression of students. The minor is divided into 6 periods of 3 weeks. Each period will be closed off with a formative assignment: students will receive feedback and feedforward by their fellow-students, teacher and client, based on specific rubrics for each assignment.

 

Introduction phase:

1. Individual position paper with a professional statement

Design thinking phases:

The students will be formatively assessed collectively as group on their assignments of the five phases of the design thinking method:

1. Empathize: business canvas
2. Define: proposal for design-oriented research
3. Ideate: design alternatives
4. Prototype: making a prototype
5. Test: evaluation of the prototype and iterations

 

For each formative assignment feedback and feedforward will be given on:

• the partial product that was developed
• evidence for the choices that were made
• the group and individual performance

 

The overall product of the group assignment at the end of the minor is a prototype accompanied by a accountability report in which evidence is presented and the development process is described.

On an individual level, the student pitches his professional development and contribution to the health(care) challenge to its fellow students and teacher.

 

The final mark is given only when:

• All 6 assignments are delivered (weighting: 0);
• Feedback and feedforward on each assignment is received and verifiably processed (weighting: 0);
• The project (prototype and accountability report) has received a mark of at least 5.5 (weighting: 2 out of 3);
• The individual professional pitch has received a mark of at least 5,5 (weighting: 1 out of 3).

Students hand in products at the end of each phase in order to receive feedback and feedforward. The presentation of their prototype and accountability report and the personal pitch about their professional development is planned in week 19. Resits will take place in week 20.

Students will be able to train their research skills in an international environment with potentially different healthcare professionals, thus also working interdisciplinary.

Do you have questions about this minor? Do not hesitate to contact the lecturer(s).

Are you a student at The Hague University of Applied Sciences? Then you can register through Osiris.

Curious about all the KOM minors of The Hague University of Applied Sciences? You will find an overview in the KOM Minorkrant (brochure) of THUAS.