PhD Fellows

Qingfan An

Beneficiary Placement:

Umeå University

PhD Topic:

Co-creation of an eHealth application for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, in a hospital context

Bio:

: My name is Qingfan An. I am currently a research assistant at the Medical Image Processing, Analysis and Visualization (MIPAV) Lab of Soochow University, and I am also a PhD candidate at Umeå University. My research interest is digital health intervention for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

I graduated from Royal College of Art with a Master of Research Degree in design pathway. The topic of my Master thesis is “Design considerations for the development of digital health interventions for self-management among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”. While in school, I participated in an exhibition named “Make it Public” in London Design Museum with my work called “Memory Collective”. In addition, I was awarded the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in industrial design at the University of Liverpool. During my undergraduate degree as an industrial designer, I learned many design and research methods. I developed systematic design thinking and practical skills like computer programming, 3D modelling, UI/UX Design, and interaction design approaches. I have done several projects in the medical field like design for psoriasis patients, asthma patients, and COPD patients. During my postgraduate degree, as a researcher, I developed an interdisciplinary research thinking and speculative view toward the project. It enriched my research experience.

Moreover, I am a traveller. I believe travelling is not only a good way to relax, but also a great opportunity to clear my mind and gain new perspectives.

I have qualitative and quantitative research experience with patients with chronic disease like asthma, psoriasis, COPD and multimorbidity. I found it is extremely meaningful to design for public health, especially for patients with chronic disease after the first contact with them. After a deeper conversation with them, I am more determined to contribute more in this area.

During my Master study, as a researcher with the research interest in digital health intervention for patients with COPD, I fostered the interest of the research and design for COPD patients. Digital health intervention (DHI) may offer an opportunity for COPD patients to better manage themselves. However, the needs of patients are not well translated into design considerations for the development of self-management DHIs, which result in the fact that the market penetration of DHIs is currently much lower than investors’ expectation. To cope with the complex problems resistant to existing public health programmes like this, co-creation is an effective tool. We need to apply a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of different stakeholders involved in the system to create a more sustainable future. The vision of Health CASCADE is the development of evidence based guiding principles, novel tools and new technologies to make co-creation an effective tool to fight complex public health problems. I fully agree with and admire the belief of Health CASCADE. Thus, I am excited to be a part of Health CASCADE. With my systematic design thinking, practical design skills and research experience with patients with chronic disease, I am capable and competent. I believe I can learn a lot from Health Cascade. Joining Health CASCADE is also a precious opportunity for me to contribute more to public health.