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Interactional Creation of Health

Umio founder Chris Lawer's book, "Interactional Creation of Health: Experience Ecosystem Ontology, Task and Method," introduces our comprehensive framework for understanding and improving health through an experience-centred ecosystem approach. Written during lockdown, Chris proposes a shift from traditional health models to a more integrated and whole view, focusing on the dynamic interactions within various domains of lived or real experience. Here are the key aspects of the book and Umio framework:

  1. Health Ecosystem Value Design (HEVD) Framework: Lawer presents a revised version of his HEVD framework, which is built on seven foundational principles. These foundations help in understanding the complex flows and forces that shape experiences of health, disease, and illness over time.

  2. Four Interactional Domains: The model identifies four primary domains—bodily-motor, perceptual-cognitive, social-cultural, and material-spatial. Each domain includes various entities and mechanisms that interact to form lived health experiences. This approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of different factors influencing health​.

  3. Twelve-Step Method: The book provides a structured method for practitioners to analyze and improve health experiences. This method includes detailed templates and guidelines for conducting inquiries and implementing actions within health experience ecosystems. The aim is to enhance capacities in health systems for achieving valuable developmental impacts​.

  4. Action Spaces: Lawer outlines the concept of "action spaces" which are strategic areas for intervention. These spaces focus on addressing the origins of health issues, changing perceptions and beliefs, determining differences in lived experiences, and designing multi-dimensional strategies to create desired health outcomes. This involves integrating traditional and non-traditional actors and leveraging various technologies and services​​.

  5. Holistic and Unified Model: The book advocates for a model that encompasses all aspects of health experiences, emphasizing the importance of understanding how different elements interact to form and sustain health over time. This holistic view aims to reveal hidden possibilities for creating health and preventing or recovering from disease.

Overall, "Interactional Creation of Health" aims to provide a new paradigm for health systems, encouraging a more dynamic and interconnected approach to health that can better address the complexities of lived experiences. This framework is designed to be applicable across various contexts, from individual health experiences to broader community and population health initiatives.

Umio Health Ecosystem Value Design paperback-1

Health Ecosystem Value Design

In Health Ecosystem Value Design: Value Sensing, Exploration, Strategy and Co-Creation Framework, Chris Lawer explores how a commonly used metaphor for health systems - ecosystems - can be applied more deeply and appropriately to better understand complex health problems, conceive of novel systemic-level value propositions, co-create impactful interventions and solutions, and ultimately, accelerate the means and capacity to redesign health systems, value and wellbeing.

Specifically, the book describes how a greater understanding of ecological, natural ecosystem concepts, combined with a novel perspective on value and wellbeing, can help care providers, industry, research, community and government organisations to:

  • Deepen insight into complex health and care system problems, their root causes and consequences
  • Frame and explore new spaces of possibility outside of traditional logics, silos and structures
  • Define adaptive strategies for guiding ongoing discovery, learning and emergence
  • Develop a portfolio of opportunities and value propositions, prior to investment or commitment in actual solutions
  • Co-create superior ecosystem interventions, technologies and solutions (of any kind) with actors, and improve the potential of existing ones in development
  • Build ecosystem-level capabilities and lead more creative and fulfilling organisations that do all the above repeatedly

Written for designers, researchers, educators, innovators, managers and policymakers, the book sets out a complete framework for framing, understanding, co-creating, adapting and transforming value and wellbeing in health and care ecosystems - sustainably.

Full colour. US Letterhead size. Paperback. 131 pages