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Research Areas at DIHR

At the Design Institute for Health and Resilience (DIHR) the aim is to bridge the gap between innovative research and practical application, focusing on designing environments that enhance health and well-being. Our interdisciplinary approach brings together expertise from urban planning, architecture, public health, nursing, social work, and other fields to create data-driven, people-centered design solutions that foster resilience across communities. Our research is rooted in understanding how the built environment affects mental, physical, and emotional health. We focus on several key areas, each chosen for its potential to positively impact human well-being:

  • Inclusive Design for Health and Well-being: Exploring how environmental design can support diverse populations and improve health outcomes, particularly in vulnerable groups like the elderly and those with cognitive challenges.
  • Aging and Resilient Places: investigating how neighborhood planning and environmental design can help people age in place comfortably and safely. the goal is to develop evidence-based guidelines for creating environments that support aging populations, including those with cognitive impairments.
  • Mental Health and the Built Environment: Exploring ways in which the built environment can influence mental health outcomes. From designing spaces that facilitate social connection to creating environments that reduce stress and anxiety. The aim in this research is to make mental health a priority in environmental design.
  • Climate and Health: Examining the connections between climate, building materials, and human health. Finding pathways in which climate-resilient design can mitigate negative health impacts and promote sustainability, especially in communities most vulnerable to environmental hazards.
  • Educational and Therapeutic Environments: Exploring how educational and therapeutic spaces can be designed to meet the needs of diverse populations, including individuals with autism and those recovering from mental health challenges. This research aims to make these spaces supportive and conducive to positive health outcomes.
  • Community Health and Engagement: Supporting community-driven health initiatives through innovative environmental design and bridging healthcare and community spaces to enhance health accessibility and equity.

Research Labs

Healthy Aging and Resilient Places Lab
Healthy Aging and Resilient Places Lab

Focused on creating neighborhoods that support aging-in-place, this project looks at how community design can enhance mobility, safety, and social connection for older adults.

Learn More About HARP Lab
Aging Brain Care Program
Specialized care for memory and cognitive health in older adults. The Aging Brain Care Program at the University of Utah Health provides comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis, and management of memory and thinking disorders. The program supports patients and families with expert, team-based care focused on improving quality of life. Designed as part of the Division of Geriatrics, the program emphasizes coordinated, compassionate care tailored to each individual’s needs.
Learn more:

Fresh from DIHR:

  • Aksamija, A., Milosevic, S., & Adekunle, T. (2025). Energy-efficient retrofitting strategies for research laboratory buildings: Case study at the University of Utah. Enquiry: The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, 22(2), 138–162. https://doi.org/10.17831/enqarcc.v22i2.1306
  • Canham, S. L., Richardson, L. R., Aaenson-Fletcher, J., Weldrick, R., & Walsh, C. A. (2026). Practices to reduce stigma and discrimination towards older transitional housing clients. Journal of Community Psychology, 54, e70104. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.70104
  • Canham, S. L., Weldrick, R., Siantz, E., Rose, J. N., Littman, D. M., Cruz Erisman, M., Rehn, K., Jones, S., Anderson, S., McNamara, A., & Greenwood, E. (2025). Community consultations to support scoping review knowledge dissemination. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241299660
  • Cruz Erisman, M., Canham, S. L., Weldrick, R., Mahmood, A., & Patille, R. (2025). The impact of COVID-19 on older people experiencing homelessness. Educational Gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2025.2485810
  • Hong, A., Gebresselassie, M., Kim, J., Li, S. A., & colleagues. (2026). Bridging the gap: Accessibility for aging and disability in planning. Journal of the American Planning Association. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2026.2660653
  • Rehn, K., Canham, S. L., Rose, J., Jaggers, J., Osteen, P., & Fowles, R. (2025). Advancing equity in homeless housing support: Unveiling disparities through homeless vulnerability assessments. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2025.2552516
  • Richardson, L. R., Canham, S. L., Aaenson-Fletcher, J., Kusari, K., Humphries, J., & Walsh, C. A. (2026). “It’s a guy thing”: Hegemonic masculinity and older men’s engagement in shelter/transitional housing programs. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2026.2613040
  • Rose, J., Amodt, S., Burke, Y., Canham, S. L., Clark, N., Clay, S., Elliott, H., Ferris, R., Gary, R., Horman, L., Littman, D., & Martinez, M. (2026). “Cold Hard Cash”: The value of direct unconditional compensation for people with lived expertise of homelessness. Health Expectations, 29(3), e70708. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.70708

Publications by DIHR Members

 

  • Adhikari, B., Hong, A., Johnson, E., Fisher, P., & Frank, L. D. (2026). Occupation type, home and work environments, and physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Journal of Transport & Health, 48, 102269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2026.102269
  • Aksamija, A., Milosevic, S., Brainard, G., & Brown, T. (2024). Facades education in the United States: Current state and recommendations for improvements. Proceedings of the Facade World Congress 2024, Salt Lake City, UT, October 8–10. Link to publication
  • Altay, B., & Porter, N. (2024). Designing for mindfulness and global public health: Where inner awareness meets the external environment. Mindfulness, 16, 712–724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02330-9
  • Canham, S. L., & Farrell, T. W. (2024). Age-friendly voices in the pursuit of an age-friendly ecosystem. In V. C. Greer & L. S. Edelman (Eds.), Age-friendly futures: Expanding equity in aging through places and practices (Chapter 6, pp. 71–82). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68361-9_6
  • Canham, S. L., Rehn, K., Osteen, P., Jaggers, J., Rose, J., & Fowles, R. (2026). Assessing the reliability of SPDAT homelessness vulnerability tools and the impact of assessor consistency and changes to homeless vulnerability over time. Housing Policy Debate, 36(1), 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2025.2500094
  • Canham, S. L., Rehn, K., Rice, E., Guo, J. W., Wu, C., Emerson, J., ... Greenwood, E. (2024). Need for a tool to assess the health and care needs of persons experiencing homelessness in the United States. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2024.2426286
  • Canham, S. L., Weldrick, R., Erisman, M., McNamara, A., Rose, J. N., Siantz, E., Casucci, T., & McFarland, M. M. (2024). A scoping review of the experiences and outcomes of stigma and discrimination towards persons experiencing homelessness. Health & Social Care in the Community. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2060619
  • Chen, Y., Hong, A., & Isaacs, K. (2024). Environmental determinants of outdoor fall injuries among older adults: A national study. RANGE: Undergraduate Research Journal. Link to publication
  • Chiodo, S., Pagalan, L., Hurst, M., O’Neill, M., Stylianou, H., Diemert, L. M., Chen, H., Brook, J. R., Hong, A., & Rosella, L. C. (2024). Measuring the health co-benefits of air pollution interventions on premature deaths in Canadian cities. Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, 2(3), 428–464. https://doi.org/10.3138/jccpe-2023-0019
  • Choi, D., Song, Y., & Hong, A. (2024). Health and environmental monitoring services for smart healthy cities: Current practices and challenges in local government plans. Journal of Korea Planning Association, 59(5), 147–166. https://doi.org/10.17208/jkpa.2024.10.59.5.147
  • Cormier, É., Bourgeois-Guérin, V., Sussman, T., Serrano, D., Gauthier, M., Mahmood, A., Walsh, C., & Canham, S. L. (2025, e-pub). “I haven't grieved yet…”: Grief as humanistic lens for understanding the experience of older persons living and aging in a long-term transitional housing. The Gerontologist, 65(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf064
  • Cruz Erisman, M., Canham, S. L., Weldrick, R., Mahmood, A., & Patille, R. (2025, e-pub). The impact of COVID-19 on older adults with lived experience of homelessness. Educational Gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2025.2485810
  • Diaz Moore, K. (2024). Aging, architecture & place-making. In M. Cutchin & G. Rowles (Eds.), Handbook of ageing and place (pp. 293–311). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802209983.00028
  • Fayyaz, N., Nanjiba, N., Mahmood, A., Pandsheno, S., Hosseini, S. H., Canham, S. L., Hong, A., Caylor, N., & Van Natter, J. (2026). Nuances of social integration within ageing in the right place for housing precarious older adults in independent housing with on-site support. Ageing & Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X25100469
  • Gebresselassie, M., Alavi, S., & Hong, A. (2024). How and where did older people travel before and after COVID? Insights from Washington, DC’s smart card data. Findings. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.93913
  • Greer, V. C., & Edelman, L. S. (2024). Age-friendly ecosystems: Environments for equitable aging by design. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-68361-9
  • Greer, V. C., & Edelman, L. S. (2024). Age-friendliness as a framework for equity in aging. In V. C. Greer & L. S. Edelman (Eds.), Age-friendly ecosystems. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68361-9_2
  • Greer, V. C., Hong, A., Canham, S. L., Agutter, J., Garcia, I., Van Natter, J. M., & Caylor, N. (2024). From sheltered in place to thriving in place. The Gerontologist, 64(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad087
  • Greer, V. C., & Moore, K. D. (2023). Autonomy, identity, and design in the COVID-19 era. In F. Ferdous & E. Roberts (Eds.), (Re)designing the continuum of care for older adults. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20970-3_14
  • Greer, V., Canham, S. L., Hong, A., Caylor, N., & Van Natter, J. (2025). Shifting perspectives: Outlooks on aging in place in the COVID-19 era. Ageing & Society, 45, 76–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X23000211
  • Hilsabeck, R. C., Perry, W., Lacritz, L., Arnett, P. A., Shah, R. C., Borson, S., ... Subramanian, U. (2024). Improving early detection of cognitive impairment in older adults in primary care clinics. The Annals of Family Medicine, 22(6), 543–549. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.3174
  • Hong, A. (2024). Age-friendly neighborhoods. In V. C. Greer & L. S. Edelman (Eds.), Age-friendly ecosystems. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68361-9_3
  • Hong, A., Choi, D., Chung, H., Kumar, P., & Lee, J. (2025). Environmental and health monitoring in smart cities: A systematic review of trends, opportunities, and challenges. Sustainable Cities and Society, 106491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106491
  • Hong, A., Ha, J., Kim, D., & Choi, D. (2026). Designing age-friendly streetscapes: Assessing environmental risk factors for falls using street view images. Cities, 170, 106696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.106696
  • Humphries, J., Canham, S. L., Bosma, H., Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., Custodio, K., & Weldrick, R. (2025). A qualitative examination of the challenges and needs during hospital discharge for people with lived experience of homelessness. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2025.2589476
  • Kusari, K., Walsh, C. A., Canham, S. L., Sussman, T., & Mahmood, A. (2025). Aging on the margins: Intersectional and postcolonial insights into older migrants’ experiences of homelessness. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2588160
  • Lee, J., Barquilla, C. A. M., Park, K., & Hong, A. (2024). Urban form and seasonal PM2.5 dynamics. Sustainable Cities and Society, 117, 105976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.105976
  • Li, L., Tang, A., & Porter, N. (2023). Defining and effectively delineating the peri-urban area: A synthesis and analysis from a literature review. Journal of Urban Planning and Development. https://doi.org/10.1061/JUPDDM.UPENG-4456
  • Mahmood, A., Chung, S. S., Nanjiba, N., Pandsheno, S., Walsh, J. J., Kader, S., & Canham, S. L. (2025). Creating compassionate spaces for end-of-life care: Protocol for an environmental assessment of hospice settings for older people experiencing homelessness. JMIR Research Protocols, 14, e73356. https://doi.org/10.2196/73356
  • Milosevic, S., & Aksamija, A. (2024). Sustainable retrofitting strategies for culturally significant Brutalist buildings. Journal of Green Building, 19(2), 95–122. https://doi.org/10.3992/jgb.19.1.95
  • Milosevic, S., Adekunle, T., & Aksamija, A. (2024). Evaluating building performance of an existing research laboratory building. Proceedings of the CATE 2024 Conference. Link to publication
  • Mirseyed Hosseini, T., & Hakimian, P. (2025). Developing and applying a multidimensional sustainability model for periurban areas. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 151(2), 04025006. https://doi.org/10.1061/JUPDDM.UPENG-5295
  • Mohajer, M. F., & Aksamija, A. (2024). Design and energy analysis: Assessment of workflows and simulation tools. Proceedings of the Facade World Congress 2024. Link to publication
  • Ng, K. Y., Hong, A., Higgins, C. D., Widener, M. J., & Koh, K. (2024). Beyond distance: Measuring spatial accessibility to healthy food. Applied Geography, 169, 103336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103336
  • Nicholas, D. S., Afzali, M., Aksamija, A., Coleman, N., Mazzi, A., Sanders, E., & Oygur Ilhan, I. (2024). Reimagining care through evidence. In DRS2024: Boston. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.138
  • O'Neill, M., Hurst, M., Pagalan, L., Diemert, L., Kornas, K., Fisher, S., ... Rosella, L. C. (2024). Development and validation of a population-based risk algorithm. BMJ Public Health, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2023-001377
  • Perera, R., Hart-Thompson, H., Mirseyed Hosseini, T., Sagehorn, M. A. P., Thomson, W., Milan, R., et al. (2025). “A new normal. Not bad, just different”: A multimethod study of altered daily routines and social infrastructure usage among older adults in the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Professional Geographer, 78(1), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2025.2571204
  • Richardson, L. R., Canham, S. L., Weldrick, R., Hoselton, J., Grittner, A., & Walsh, C. A. (2025). “I feel like a somebody again”: Ethics of care at a shelter for older adults fleeing abuse in Canada. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 68(7), 933–955. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2025.2468314
  • Richardson, L. R., Canham, S. L., Aaenson-Fletcher, J., Kusari, K., Humphries, J., & Walsh, C. A. (2026). “It’s a guy thing”: Hegemonic masculinity and older men’s engagement in shelter/transitional housing programs. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2026.2613040
  • Rosella, L. C., Hurst, M., O’Neill, M., Pagalan, L., Diemert, L., Kornas, K., Hong, A., & Manuel, D. G. (2024). A study protocol for a predictive model. Diagnostic and Prognostic Research, 8(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41512-024-00165-5
  • Walsh, J. J., Sussman, T., Bosma, H., Carter, R. Z., Cormier, É., & Canham, S. L. (2025). The intersections of palliative care and homelessness in social policy: A content analysis of Canadian policy documents. BMC Palliative Care, 24(1), 229. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-025-01866-4
  • Yang, J. H., Yoon, K. I., Ha, S., Hong, A., & Lim, S. C. (2025). Estimating indoor tile friction coefficient using visual information. Journal of Computational Design and Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcde/qwaf003
  • Zawawi, A. A., Porter, N., & Ives, C. D. (2023). Influences on greenways usage for active transportation: A systematic review. Sustainability, 15(13), 10695. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310695

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