Maurita T. Harris
Areas of Expertise
- Disability Studies and Accessibility
- Gerontology and Aging
- Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health
- User Experience Design (UXD)
Biography
Dr. Maurita T. Harris is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at the Wilfrid Laurier University, holding appointments in User Experience Design and Social Justice & Community Engagement. She earned her B.A. from North Carolina State University in Psychology, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Community Health from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Harris’ research explores the way technology can support the well-being of people as they age from a Human Factors perspective focusing on design for aging; digital health; health and racial equity; and the technology lifecycle. As the director of the Well-Tech Research & Design Laboratory, she leads a team who collaborates with researchers across the world to ensure the integration of interdisciplinary approaches and thinking from diverse fields (e.g., community health, design, engineering, gerontology, leisure, psychology, and social justice).
My research interests focus on understanding how to design technology to be inclusive and to support adoption for people to live the life they choose. Within this, my goals are to:
- understand in more detail the technology adoption process
- explore inequities in the digital, race, and health domains
- support and improve the maintenance of functional independence of aging populations
- promote behavior change through digital health interventions