Trans-disciplinary collaboration in the Mexican healthcare context
Regina’s research explores how actors from different disciplines collaborate within healthcare initiatives. The case study took place at the Research and Technological Development Unit (UIDT) inside the General Hospital of Mexico ‘Eduardo Liceaga’ (HGMEL), which is a collaboration with the Applied Sciences and Technological Development Center (ICAT) at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The FAST fund helped cover the costs of travel and accommodation.
A total of 24 actors from UIDT collaborated in Regina’s research. Multiple actors were present several times. She met most of the actors physically in the first week. After that week, she organized the interviews, surveys, workshops and validation sessions online because she was not allowed to go to the hospital due to COVID-19. Besides, she realized two digital co-creative sessions, nine validation sessions, and she shared an online prototype with the actors.
Her research was part of her master thesis in Strategic Product Design on the faculty of Industrial Engineering. On her thesis, she explored transdisciplinary collaborations in the healthcare sector, focusing on open innovation initiatives in the Netherlands and Mexico. As a result, she presented a future-oriented strategy for UIDT and a model to build effective transdisciplinary collaboration.
“The projects realized at the Research and Technological Development Unit (UIDT) inside the General Hospital of Mexico ‘Eduardo Liceaga’ is an example of how we can tackle challenges in healthcare as the COVID-19 pandemic; by collaborating with multiple disciplines and tackling challenges from multiple perspectives.”
