In Brief
In a previous dossier on the design of innovations, we sustained that “just because most of the objects surrounding us are familiar and because they seem to fit our environments and habits fairly logically, does not mean they must be the way they are”. The standpoint from which designers defines the problem to be solved may orient them towards different solutions. Take for instance the hospital gown.
When was the last time you saw a movie that gave you the lasting impression that what our world needed most was cultural innovation much more than fancy new technologies? This is exactly how I felt when I left the theatre where Bas! Beyond the Red Light was being shown.
We know that the largest pharmaceutical companies are powerful, profitable and astute in promoting their products. However, one thing that research undertaken by Marc-André Gagnon, a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University, has clarified is that physicians and researchers can now hardly refuse to take part in the new promotion-driven clinical research system.
If essential oils are already used for their antibacterial and anti-infection properties, they could also serve to fight some hospital acquired infections. For a few years now, researchers have been studying this potential. They discovered that some essential oils are powerful enough to kill bacteria that usually resist to one or more antibiotics.
In some hospitals in the United States, it is now possible to run into funny workers: robots that give out medicines or transport medical material between units. These “employees” can talk, navigate hallways and even use elevators. What is the impact of introducing such “workers” on the organizational structure? How did the other members of the staff reacted to the arrival of their new colleagues?
Dossiers
New: Healthy Cities
The design of health technologies
Down Syndrome screening
Stem cells
In vitro fertilization
