Design-led innovation within our healthcare system is needed yesterday. As part of my MRes Healthcare & Design course I had the pleasure to work alongside an expert with progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Sam lived the most active life in California being a carpenter, mountain biker and hiker until he was diagnosed with primary (phase 1) MS in 2001. Soon after he returned back to his home in the UK, where four years ago he was diagnosed with a secondary MS and is fully wheelchair-bound ever since. His equipment was independently fundraised as the state didn’t provide for it. And this is the UK - one of THE wealthiest nations.
The most incredible part of his story was his willingness to readapt and keep adjusting to a system which works totally against his needs. He truly reinvented himself and recently retrained as a Building Heritage Consultant at the Bartlett and currently works alongside architects on historic sites and projects. He misses his physical interactions madly. In his own words he “would love to grab a piece of wood and create a beautiful object out of it”. He becomes less able each day.
Along the assessment of his journey, there were so many holes within the broken system which we encountered. There’s no continuity or adequate transition of care from primary to secondary or community care as well as no support towards his mental well-being. Inspired by his name Sam, SamBuddy was born as a manifesto against the rotting care system. SamBuddy helps people negotiate the world around them in an inclusive and wholesome manner by data collecting from hospital admission to discharge. It provides a series of services as well as Sammy - a personalised hands free built-in voice recognition to help people who suffer from loneliness or are unable to use their limbs.
As an architect, I have been most frustrated with the Part M policy from the Building Regs - we tend to to tick boxes and design policies which then fit into practice which is outrageous. We must design according to people’s mental and corporeal requirements to then adapt to a system, service or a policy. A new integrated guided system which works towards full inclusivity.
The part which informed the creation of SamBuddy the most happened in March 2020 when in the midst of pandemic, Sam fell off his bed and he couldn’t get back up on it again. He remained on the floor for the entire night purely because he didn’t want to bother the paramedics. In the morning when he rang an ambulance, they arrived and took him to Homerton Hospital in Hackney. He remained there for two weeks without needing to be there at all. Upon discharge he was sent to a hotel (Premier Inn), which did not cater towards his needs in terms of accessibility.
SamBuddy was created in order to tackle inadequate discharge and provide a smooth transition from hospital to community care, where people who are less able can gain superpower apparatus through a service design, which is tailored according to the user’s needs.
