National Centre for Research Methods conference 2024.

Day 2: Friday, 13 September

10:30 - 15:00
Designing racially just healthcare futures: the hospital in 2124
Session convener: Temidayo Eseonu, Naomi Jacobs and Benjamin Dalton
Purpose: Demonstrating speculative design methods, (in particular, design fiction), we will take participants through a process of imagining what a racially just hospital in 2124 might look like.

Content: Racial health inequalities in the UK have persisted for many decades. For example, rates of infant and maternal mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes are higher among Black and South Asian people. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other health technologies including medical Internet of Things (IoT) are being heralded as having positive impacts on patient outcomes. However, these technologies are already exhibiting racial biases. Without careful consideration to disrupt the (re)production of biases, the future of healthcare for marginalised groups will remain marked by inequalities. In this session, we invite participants to imagine the futures of healthcare systems, considering where bias and medical racism interact with healthcare technologies and spatial design. Through these activities, we will demonstrate how speculative design methods can be used to interrogate multiple potential futures and support research to develop more ethical, just outcomes.

Format: The workshop will be divided into three sessions. Session 1 will begin with short provocations from the workshop conveners on medical racism, AI and health technologies, ethics, and future hospitals. In Session 2, participants will 'visit' a hospital waiting room (immersive speculation) in 2034. Session 3 will invite participants to design their own healthcare immersive scenario and environment in 2124.

Audience: This workshop will be suitable for social scientists, policymakers and health organisations. We will invite participants from the NHS New Hospital Programme.