Design to reduce negative emotions: improving children's experience of the dental office

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dc.contributor.advisorWardell, Ronald W.
dc.contributor.authorHouston, Georgia
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-18T21:54:29Z
dc.date.available2017-12-18T21:54:29Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.descriptionBibliography: p. 125-132en
dc.descriptionContains oversized pages.en
dc.description.abstractThe goal of this Master's Degree Project is to use an affective design approach to the issue of pediatric dental anxiety by gaining insight into children's emotional experience at the dental office and proposing a holistic design solution. This project illustrates how empathic design approaches can be useful to help identify design opportunities for children who may be experiencing negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and pain. Background literature research focuses on a context analysis of the issues from a pediatric dentistry, psychosocial, emotional and design perspective. Empathic techniques, namely key informant interviews and observation of users within the dental office environment are used as a means of determining the major issues that may affect children's experience at the dental office. The results of this research informed the development of four generative design themes that may improve a child's dental experience: aesthetics, relaxation, distraction, and empowerment. The proposed design solution to reduce children's negative emotions is a digital media system hand-controller that children can use while undergoing procedures in the dental chair, when fear and anxiety are most acute. The controller functions as a means of: relaxing children through aesthetics, distraction and empowerment, with an alarm function to communicate distress. The use scenario for the controller and digital media system is illustrated and contextualized through a final storyboard of what an ideal dental office experience may be like for pediatric patients.
dc.format.extentx, 145 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.en
dc.identifier.citationHouston, G. (2007). Design to reduce negative emotions: improving children's experience of the dental office (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/2829en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/2829
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/103830
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyEnvironmental Design
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.titleDesign to reduce negative emotions: improving children's experience of the dental office
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Environmental Design (MEDes)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
ucalgary.thesis.accessionTheses Collection 58.002:Box 1767 520708930
ucalgary.thesis.notesUARCen
ucalgary.thesis.uarcreleaseyen
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