Small Experiments: Tinkering with Well-being Jan English Lueck, San Jose State University. Understanding People in Their Contexts. Ethnographic studies of people managing their own health.

1. Consumer-Centric Health
Models for Change ‘11

2. Small Experiments: Tinkering with
Well-being
Jan English-Lueck, San Jose State University
Models for Change
Leading Edge Interventions:
What’s Working, What’s Not and Bright Spots
October 12, 2011

3. Understanding People
in Their Contexts
• Ethnographies of work,
family, health and well-
being in everyday life
• Silicon Valley Cultures
Project
• Institute for the Future,
(foresight, insight,
action)
Projects and books from SVCP and IFTF

4. Platforms for Behavior Change
Institutions provide supports Personal relationships can
and barriers help, hinder or trump
Good Samaritan Therapeutic Garden. Lydia’s marathon award, memories of
Portland, Oregon Ron. San Jose, California

5. What are People Managing?
Who Controls the Knowledge?
Illness Health
Pamela’s medical records for self, son Jeremy and Kristal’s sleep hygiene regime.
and deceased husband. Sunnyvale, California
San Jose, California

6. The Intangibles of Well-being
The Global Repertoire
The Market of Practices
Holistic Bakery for Pets. Sakura’s Japanese life support system.
Vancouver, British Columbia San Jose, California

7. Deep Medical Diversity
• Traditional practices
from immigrants and
sojourners
• Complementary and
alternative medicine.
• Public health,
biomedical, market-
based and internet- Arturo and
Estaban’s family
based resources pantry.
Portland, Oregon

8. Networks as Filters
Who are the Agents of Change?
• Social networks
(institutional and
personal) interpret
practices
• Practices are constantly
mixed and changed
Jeremy and Kristal’s home offices, from
workplace yoga to new disciplines of
practice.

9. Jeremy’s DDR for Wii, Silicon Valley “exercising”
Whose well-being?
Self and Beyond

10. Kitchen medicine. Vancouver, British Columbia
Household and Family

11. Fanime Meetup, San Jose, California
The “Network”

12. “Chinatown,” community gardens.
Seattle International District
The “Community”

13. Reframing our Thoughts:
Logics and Practices
Observations Changing Approaches
• People are creating a • Are we delivering standardized
customized set of logics and answers or asking customized
practices for themselves, questions?
their family, friends and • Do the old metrics and
co-workers. measurement work?
• Are we assuming we know the
full range of practices in play?
• Are we filtering
communication with our own
biases?
Nann’s “healthy” soup. Seattle

14. Reframing our Thoughts:
People in Networks
Observations Changing Approaches
• Individual people are nested • Are you focused on the
in households, families, patient, worker or client?
friends and coworkers who • Are there other people who
help them identify and help them learn, decide and
interpret health information act?
• Can the institution—clinic,
workplace, non-profit—
provide a platform for
change?
• Can you recruit family and
friends to support change?
Bicycle Transportation Alliance,
Portland, Oregon

15. Reframing our Thoughts:
Fostering Experimentation
Observations Changing Approaches
• People are conducting • How much are you willing to
experiments on themselves, let a client, worker or patient
experiment outside your
their families and friends to comfort zone?
maximize well-being. • Are you assuming that an
experiment must involve a
new high-tech device or
service?
• How can you support
experimentation and mine the
information to monitor
outcomes?
Jeremy and Kristal’s full spectrum lights. Experimenting with sleep and wakefulness.