Designing on the Front Lines (DOTFL) is a series of online conversations organized by the Health Design Lab at Jefferson University School of Medicine with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Twelve live sessions were recorded during Summer 2020, as Covid-19 spread to cities and rural areas around the United States and the world. In each episode, doctors, nurses, designers, architects, and other professionals discuss design as a weapon against Covid-19. Topics discussed include designing medical devices and PPE; addressing racism’s role in the pandemic; redesigning patient rooms and emergency departments; and creating new rituals for death and grieving. Delivered via Zoom, the conversations are moderated by Dr. Morgan Hutchinson and Dr. Matthew Fields, emergency physicians and faculty in the Health Design Lab.

“The nation’s leaders and policymakers are currently focused on combating the coronavirus as well as devising policies to ease the impact of an expected recession. But there’s also a coming social recession that deserves more attention right now, according to Erin Peavey, a Dallas-based architect and design researcher for HKS focused on designing for health and human connection.”

“As Peavey and her family adjust to social distancing, their front porch has become a gateway for connection. Peavey, a licensed architect and vice president at the Dallas-based firm HKS, recently published a report around this idea, looking at how the built environment can shape social well-being.”

In a time of hyper connection and communication, many of us report feeling lonely and detached, and there is strong evidence that this has a toxic effect on our health and happiness. This panel will discuss what’s driving increases in social isolation and loneliness (hint: it’s not just technology) and examine scalable strategies — some unexpected — that lead to social environments that promote meaningful connections. The trick is to think not only about places where communities are formed IRL, but the people who gather there and the shared experiences that keep them coming back. Huge opportunities await entrepreneurs who can leverage this knowledge to build a future marked by connections that boost our collective health.