Online Represent!

So, with the idea of combining my interests in health, I thought it would be interesting to examine how health information is disseminated in the Netherlands/Amsterdam, and if there were "culturally appropriate" health information and practices available for immigrant communities. If there are, do those services improve the quality of care or the perception of the quality of care received?

Harborview International Medicine Clinic provides some interesting services, including native language speaking staff and interpretive services in 70+ languages, house calls, educational material available online about specific different cultures for doctors and staff.

There are programs like this around the world, but the services they provide differ. This one, in New South Wales, Australia, focuses on communication between the provider and the patients and was set up by the national health service.

It might also be interesting to look at non-traditional ways to promote health, like this soccer game for AIDS awareness or the fashion show for positive body image that I co-produced in February.

Observations:
University Village (an arcade of sorts)
Sunday Afternoon around 4:30

I chose University village because it combines a lot of aspects of many different spaces: outdoor shopping, mall, restauraunts, and grocery stores.
Because it was raining, I focused on how the space was being used, in contrast to other times I've been in the Village.

First, the entrance:
We can see that there is a lot of car traffic going in and out. There aren't too many pedestrians walking out, although there are 5 different bus routes that service the area. The signs are uniform and dark green, and generally inobtrusive.








We can see that the parking lots are full, with few spots. This is a bit busy for a typical Sunday afternoon around 4:30. So, we can see that the rain does not keep people at home in the area.





Most people stayed under covered areas. This is interesting because UVillage is an outdoor shopping center. In the rain, we can feel the tensions that the rain causes. All of the outdoor furniture is unused and wet. We can see the parents watching their children play on the playground toy here. There were a lot of families out with their children.

Interestingly, UVillage, which generally has a lot of dog owners walking their dogs, did not have any pet owners that I saw this afternoon. We can also see the one biker I found while walk around the area.


It was interesting to see how few people were walking around with how busy the parking lot was. In this picture, we are looking at one of the biggest crosswalks that bring pedestrians from one side of UVillage to the other. On nice summer days, it's almost impossible to get past this walkway without stopping for at least 30 seconds.


Here's another covered walkway and main thoroughfare. There were significantly more people here than in the more exposed areas, even though the more famous stores were in the exposed areas.








Analysis:

Research Question: How does weather affect use patterns in outdoor/indoor spaces?
Research Methods: Ziesel Environment-behavior method (watch people use space over time and with different weather), close read ( look for clothing selection, how displays are designed.)