Health , wellbeing and inclusion
36 .
Rethinking our relationship to digital health data through arts-based social research
The problem
Digital health data , such as data collected from exercise trackers , heart rate monitors and medical records , has revolutionised our understanding of our identities and our embodied selves . However , how people collect and make sense of information about their health from both digital and non-digital sources remains under-explored .
Our solution
More on this story
Arts-based social research can challenge our perceptions of personal health and medical data , says UNSW SHARP Professor Deborah Lupton . Deborah Lupton is a world-leading digital and health sociologist who leads the UNSW node of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision- Making and Society ( ADM + S ). ADM + S ’ s research creates knowledge and strategies for responsible , ethical and inclusive automated decision-making .
Deborah Lupton and her team are partnering with Health Consumers NSW to co-design materials for exhibition . Designed for research translation and engagement , their More-than-Human Wellbeing exhibition explores how people learn about their bodies and health not only through digital devices and data but also through elements of the natural world .
Working with Deborah Lupton ’ s team , consumers engaged in creative workshops , responding to prompts through map-making , images from nature and discussion . Their insights are guiding the development of artworks and a film for display in the exhibition .
The exhibition will include hands-on activities engaging visitors through touch , sound and smell , as well as sight . The team will evaluate the impact of these multi-sensory encounters in attuning visitors to how they learn about their bodies and health with and through both digital and non-digital encounters .
Our collaboration
Deborah Lupton is leading an interdisciplinary team in the project , Health Information Ecologies with :
> Health Consumers NSW > Vaughan Wozniak-O ’ Connor , an artist and research fellow at ADM + S > Dr Ash Watson , a sociologist of fiction and technology at ADM + S > Dr Kate Dunn from UNSW ’ s School of Built Environment > And Associate Professor Lizzie Muller from UNSW ’ s School of Art & Design .