On the Edge of Health and Design

Nita Lakhani and Sylvia Szkudlarek
  • 5.0 (5)
  • DESIGN
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

The podcast where Healthcare meets Design. We feature conversations around healthcare innovation with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and designers. Your cohosts are Nita Lakhani (healthcare professional) and Sylvia Szkudlarek (designer). We are based in Toronto, Canada. Follow us on Instagram @ontheedgeofhd

  1. FEB 1

    Living a Bipolar Life with Kiki Kamdar (Episode 34)

    To kick of 2026, we spoke with Kiki (Kajal) Kamdar, a health and wellness advocate who shared her past experience as a caregiver for a partner experiencing mental illness. Kiki turned to hiking as a way to combat stress, connect with nature and develop her community. Through hiking, Kiki learned to "live a bipolar life" on her own terms, with self compassion. If this episode resonates with you or someone you know struggling with mental illness, please pass it along! Resources Kiki's instagram is kiki_pura_vida or you can reach her by email at kajal.kamdar@gmail.com NAMI - National Alliiance on Mental Illness https://www.nami.org/

    38 min

  2. 2025-10-27

    The Evolution of Mental Health Nursing with Aideen Carroll (Episode 33)

    This month, we highlight Aideen Carroll, Advanced Practice Nurse Educator and champion of mental health nursing! Of note, Aideen shared her love of the history of mental health/health care and provided examples of the design and evolution of products and processes towards improving experiences for both patients and providers. Aideen’s key takeaway was challenging future generations with normalizing mental health as a part of our overall health. We hope you loved this episode as much as we did!  Aideen's email: aideen.carroll@uhn.ca https://hospitalnews.com/nursing-hero-award-first-place-winner-aideen-carroll/ CAMH - Mental Health is Health campaign https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/mental-health-is-health Mental health commission of Canada app assessment framework⁠https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/app-assessment/

    37 min
  3. From Kenya to Canada in search of Community (Episode 32)

    2025-09-03

    From Kenya to Canada in search of Community (Episode 32)

    In this summer recap episode, your cohost, Nita shares her personal reflections following her recent Heritage Journey to Kenya, Africa. Nita revisits the concept of Designing your Life and shares how her own Indian, African and Canadian heritage shapes her current quest to find communities of belonging. Are you looking for your community? Feel free to reach out to us with comments, questions and reflections of your own. Resources Episode 30: Design your Life with Demi Yoo Episode 31: Breathe into Balance with Manjit Hansra Book: Breath by James Nester Design concept: Iterative Inquiry

    14 min

  4. 2025-07-13

    Breathe into Balance with Manjit Hansra (episode 31)

    This month, we spoke with Manjit Hansra, a pharmacist, breathwork facilitator and entrepreneur. Manjit shared his personal story of burnout working as a pharmacist and pharmacy owner. After attending wellness retreats in different countries, Manjit became certified as a breathwork facilitator and founded Rx for Renewal, a company focused on helping healthcare leaders live a life of joy through balancing their work and wellbeing. We invited Manjit to demonstrate a breathwork technique for us - watch our episode to learn it! If you’re interested in breathing with Manjit, feel free to reach out to him on social media and/or subscribe to his newsletter. Details under Resources below. Resources Upcoming Somatic Breathwork Sessions (July 18 and Aug 10) - ⁠https://rx-renewalmentalfitness.my.canva.site/copy-of-breathing-events-landing-page⁠ Rx Renewal Services - https://linktr.ee/rxrenewal Manjit on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/manjithansra Substack Newsletter - https://manjithansra.substack.com Mental Fitness Training - https://rx-renewalmentalfitness.my.canva.site/

    35 min
  5. Design your Life with Demi Yoo (episode 30)

    2025-06-29

    Design your Life with Demi Yoo (episode 30)

    This month, we chatted with Demi Yoo, a marketing professional who is also a self-described health and wellness junkie. Demi discovered meditation during a dark period in her life and found that this helped her mental health. Demi shared her most challenging meditation experience to-date, a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat that had her meditating for a total of 100 hours! In Demi’s words, this experience changed her life! She’s happy to share the details of how to register for this in Ontario, Canada (see our Resources below). Finally, Demi created her personal virtuous cycle of positive reinforcement that has helped her redesign her life. How might you do this yourself? Listen to our episode to find out! Resources Vipassana sign up: https://torana.dhamma.org/ Email: demi.sae.yoo@gmail.com Designing your Life (book) Bill Burnett & Dave Evans  Think like a Monk (book) Jay Shetty - host of On Purpose podcast  Manifest: 7 Steps to Living your Best Life by Roxi Nafousi

    33 min

  6. 2025-05-31

    Night Shift Work and Your Health (episode 29)

    In our May episode, your cohost Nita shares her recent experience with working night shifts in a healthcare setting. According to the Institute for Work and Health (non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada), there are several adverse health effects associated with shift work, particularly with long-term exposure to working night shifts. Mitigation strategies are recommended at both organizational and personal levels to optimize the health and wellbeing of shift workers. Do you have experiences with night shifts or other forms of shift work that you'd like to share with us? What made the experience better? What could be optimized to support your overall health? We invite you to post a comment, or email us at ontheeddgeofhd@gmail.com. Resources Institute for Work and Health https://www.iwh.on.ca/ Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety https://www.ccohs.ca/

    12 min

  7. 2025-05-01

    Are you Ageist? With Ju Eun Lee (episode 28)

    This month, we spoke with Ju Eun Lee, a geriatric psychiatrist based in Toronto, Canada. Ju Eun is a passionate advocate against ageism. She highlighted the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of ageism, which refers to stereotypes around how we think, feel and act towards older adults. Globally, one in two of us are ageist! Ageism is associated with poor health, social and economic impacts. The WHO identified three types of ageism - self-directed, interpersonal and institutional. These provide key opportunities to leverage when designing ways to combat ageism.  Ju Eun’s key takeaways included recognizing that we all age and making efforts to understand different generations. Ju Eun invites our listeners to join her as a volunteer with the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism, a social change movement to end ageism.  Resources Canadian Coalition Against Ageism - https://ccaageism.ca/ World Health Organization’s global report on ageism - https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/demographic-change-and-healthy-ageing/combatting-ageism/global-report-on-ageism

    31 min

  8. 2025-03-24

    Communication meets Healthcare Design with Nita Lakhani (episode 27)

    In celebration of pharmacist awareness month, your cohost Nita (pharmacist/designer/podcaster) is interviewed by Sajid, a colleague from their Toronto Go-Getters Toastmasters club. Sajid and Nita discuss Nita's communication journey with Toastmasters and how that intersects with her roles as a pharmacist and podcaster. We hope you take something of value from this episode to apply to your professional and/or personal journey!

    18 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

The podcast where Healthcare meets Design. We feature conversations around healthcare innovation with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and designers. Your cohosts are Nita Lakhani (healthcare professional) and Sylvia Szkudlarek (designer). We are based in Toronto, Canada. Follow us on Instagram @ontheedgeofhd

Information

  • Creator
    Nita Lakhani and Sylvia Szkudlarek
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Nita Lakhani and Sylvia Szkudlarek
  • Show Website
    On the Edge of Health and Design