An Initiative for Enriching Local Governmental Support for Foreign Residents

A Regional Issues Research Design Project with College Engineering Students

Abstract

This case report describes a 2015 regional issues research project for college engineering students. A group of student used design thinking to discover gaps between foreign residents’ needs and the information provided by the local city government. As a result, the students created two types of English pamphlets: “Nonoichi Medical Facilities Map” and “Important Dates for Your Child’s Healthy Growth.” Additionally, based on the experience of visiting healthcare facilities, the students created, “Hospital Interface,” a web application to better aide the communication between foreign patients and medical staff.