Inter-Generational Food Program
(Project Under NDA, Limited Showcase Below)
Client:
St. David's Foundation
Project Length:
3 months
Team:
Design Institute for Health + Lone Star Circle of Care
Team Mates:
Jacob Rader, Rose Lewis, Jessica Murray, Diana Siebenaler
My Role:
Service Designer
How Do We Build the Future of Healthcare, in Rural Texas?
As health access across America’s heartland continues to decline, new models of care are needed to support rural communities. Our work in Taylor, TX asked us to envision the future of holistic, community-driven care. A model that addresses the social determinants of health, bringing together the clinics, local government agencies, business leaders, churches, civic clubs – the full resources of a community.
Funded by Saint David’s Foundation and working with Lone Star Circle of Care, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and Opportunities of Burnet and Williamson Country, we spent three months exploring the future of healthcare, intergenerational connection, and food access for the community of Taylor, TX.
Small Town Context
During this initial, exploratory phase of work, our team attended Taylor community events, interviewed key partners in Taylor and subject matter experts in farming, food, intergenerational care, and education. Additionally, we conducted secondary and analogous research to understand best practices and exemplary intergenerational and food programs locally and nationally.
Making the Case for an Inter-generational Food Program
As part of our research, we looked at how the history and physicality of Taylor impact the community and shape how resources are distributed.
In addition to mapping the physical, we also mapped the connections between organizations working in and around Taylor, highlighting potential partnerships.
Ingredients & Recipe Framework
Throughout our research the community shared a bounty of good ideas; every person we talked to saw a different opportunity for change. Leveraging various resources within Taylor we worked with our partners to translate those ideas into concept an“Ingredients” and “Recipe” roadmap. These Ingredients and Recipes were then workshopped into testable prototypes to explore different interventions moving forward.
Working with our partners we used the Ingredients & Recipe Frameworks as fodder to help identify key opportunity areas that we could turn into testable prototypes.
We assessed the viability, opportunity for partnership, and potential impact for each of the 5 final prototypes.