GVU Center Brown Bag, Mustafa Naseem: Patriarchy and Health: Designing Technologies for Men to Improve Women’s Health in Pakistan

Abstract:

This talk will address the design challenges and opportunities in creating health technologies for men to improve the health of women in religiously conservative, patriarchal, and low-income societies. In this talk, I will share findings from the deployment of a speech-based service called Super Abbu (Super Dad) designed to connect expectant fathers to doctors and to each other. Over a period of 71 days, the service reached upwards of 20,000 users who spent almost 400 thousand minutes on the platform. Through a critical examination of cultural and societal factors, such as traditional gender roles, stigma towards sexual health information-seeking, and limited access to resources, I will highlight key considerations for designing effective and culturally sensitive health technologies for this population. The goal of this talk is to provide insights and recommendations for designers, researchers, and practitioners to create health technologies that are inclusive, accessible, and effective for users, regardless of their cultural, social, and economic backgrounds.

Speaker Bio:

Mustafa Naseem is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. Mustafa’s research focuses on design challenges around creating, deploying and scaling health technologies in religiously conservative, patriarchal and low-income societies. Mustafa’s scholarship informs technology and policy design in international development, with a focus on centering marginalized individuals’ voices and needs, while focusing on factors such as access and gender. Mustafa has taught and conducted research with underserved communities in Pakistan, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana and the US. Mustafa’s work is published in venues including ACM CHI, CSCW, Web Conference (WWW), Compass, and ICTD, and has received Best Paper Honorable Mention and Diversity and Inclusion Awards at ACM CHI and CSCW. Mustafa received his Masters in ICT and Development (ICTD) from the University of Colorado Boulder on a Fulbright Scholarship. His work is supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and USAID, among others.

How to watch: If you can't attend. please watch the Live Stream, or view the Recording (available 30 days after event). If you have any questions, email us at gvu@cc.gatech.edu.

Schedule of Brown Bag Speakers Spring 2023