KCAD students use design to change the world of healthcare

Over the last year, a number of programs at Kendall College of Art and Design have been engaged in various collaborative projects with Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) that require students to apply the human-centered design processes they studied at KCAD to solve difficult problems.

 The latest collaboration between KCAD and SHI has Industrial Design and Interior Design students working to redesign the spaces and equipment in Spectrum's Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) to improve patients' quality of care.

Current technology in EMUs confines patients to their beds. They are allowed elsewhere only with the assistance of nurses. Emerging technology aims to increase patients’ mobility and overall comfort, but safety is still the primary concern. The students’ assignments are focused on creating room layouts and furniture designs that can help solve this mobility issue while also accommodating the needs of hospital clinicians.

KCAD Industrial Design Chair Jon Moroney says the project began in the fall of 2015 with Interior Design Professor Lee Davis and a cross-disciplinary group of industrial and interior design students. It was carried on to the spring semester, when a team of senior interior design students built upon the project design vision.
 
"The vision is to create a whole new room experience,” Moroney says.

So far, the focus of the project has been on designing both an EMU-specific bed capable of elevating to work-surface height and rotating 360 degrees to give staff full access to the patient, as well as featuring patient-operated adjustment controls. Interior spaces were redesigned featuring padded floors, curved counters and edges, and soft seating to encourage patient mobility while still ensuring safety.

Moroney says KCAD has always worked with corporate partners or sponsors, which helps students build their portfolio but says this project is grounded in real-world experiences.
 
"This is probably the most realistic innovation experience for the students,” he explains. “We anticipate this project will spin off more classes where students can work on big and complex problems."

This story featured contributions from KCAD student Ashley Newton. Read more of her project coverage here.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor