Graduate Certificate in Design for Health and Wellbeing

There is increasing recognition that design plays an important role in the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Government bodies, workplaces, schools, universities, not-for-profit and commercial businesses are making health and wellbeing a priority. COVID-19 has further drawn attention to the way space impacts health and human experiences. Design for wellbeing is fast gaining traction as a field.

The Graduate Certificate in Design for Health and Wellbeing is rich and multidisciplinary introduction to why space matters, spatial research methods and how users' health and wellbeing are impacted by their environments.

The course is for both designers and non-designers and focuses on core theories and principles underpinning design for health and wellbeing alongside practical skills needed to implement new ideas.

Drawing on a wide range of expertise, including from the fields of design, architecture, planning, medicine, healthcare, design for ageing and disability, engineering, construction and building, and community management, along with Australian Indigenous cultural knowledges and creative practices, you will gain a sound understanding of key concepts and practical skills to consider the physical, psychological, social and ecological dimensions of the built environment. This unique skillset will enable you to make a positive impact immediately.

Delivered fully online, with the option of face-to-face delivery for certain elective subjects, this is a short yet rich program providing the flexibility to study around other commitments.

You will develop an understanding of how design impacts health and wellbeing throughout the life trajectory, the practical skills to implement these in real-world settings, and the ability to communicate your ideas to a range of specialist audiences.

You will learn:

• Key concepts of design for wellbeing, such as why space matters, spatial research methodologies and how users are impacted by their environments.
• Unique skills needed to brief the design of spaces and critically evaluate the spaces we inhabit and which impact our health and wellbeing.
• To use a range of visual communication techniques to translate ideas to a range of specialist audiences. .
• Key aspects of design process, briefing, design thinking and communication skills.

On completion of this course, you will have:

• Enhanced critical decision-making skills using design process and spatial research methodologies
• The ability to use design practice skills, tools and knowledge to simply interpret data and ideas in a diverse range of formats, for specialist audiences.
• Awareness of the impact of spatial considerations (including landscape) for user health and wellbeing in a variety of environments, such as residential, workplaces, educational, health care and others.
• The ability to utilise a range of multi-disciplinary contexts to enhance design, design thinking and design analysis.

The Graduate Certificate in Design for Health and Wellbeing is suitable for both designers and non-designers from industry wanting to expand their knowledge in this emerging field.

Ideal for a range of career levels, including graduate though to manager, leader or senior leader, you could be working in architecture, construction, building operations, urban design, engineering, interior design, and healthcare organisations, local and state government departments, professional services and engineering. The course also suits those working in human resources or organisational psychology.

You might be an architect, construction manager, infrastructure manager, procurement manager, urban planner, developer or financial investor in the built environment, or healthcare professional.

• Course code: GC-DHW
• Evidence of meeting the English Language Requirements as determined by the University
• Transcripts for all courses attempted or completed including an explanation of the grading system used. Transcripts for previous studies undertaken at the University of Melbourne are not required.
• Two referee reports.
• Digital files of these documents. Limit of 6MB per document. Supported file types: TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, JPG, JPEG, XLS, XLSX, TIFF.