Speaker Bio
Dr. Nadia Pantidi is the Associate Dean Research at the Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation, Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. Her research is in the area of Human Computer Interaction, with a focus on leveraging participatory and experience-centered design approaches to enhance wellbeing, community resilience and engagement. Her work is regularly published in high impact international conferences and journals in the field of HCI, such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Conferences on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), Communities and Technologies (C&T), Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).
Designing for dignity and safety in size-inclusive care
Nadia Pantidi, Victoria University of Wellington
Friday 24th April 2026. 12:30. Online.
Moving and handling people of larger size presents ongoing challenges for healthcare due to limited equipment, facilities, inconsistent training, further complicated by weight bias and staff anxiety, directly impacting safety and dignity of care. This talk presents VR Bariatric, an immersive training platform designed to improve understanding, confidence, and safe practice in bariatric care. The platform supports dignified, culturally safe interactions while building professional capability. The approach offers a scalable contribution to a safer, more equitable and culturally safe healthcare environment for bariatric patients and the professionals who care for them.