City commuting times and Medical consultation times

Medi-Pod in the City

Medi-Pod is a mobile medical apparatus or facility for medical procedures. My first perception of this concept was that these Medi-Pods were "Docked" at Public transport nodes/centres such as train stations. There mobility was only required for emergences or month to month redistribution in response to demand. I questioned this premise while commuting to work, we waste a lot of time commuting, in Sydney, for example, the average worker spends more time commuting then on holidays each year.
Therefore I had to ask the question, could this Medi-Pod provide a service for commuters, the biggest challenge would be time constraints.

From the data below, it is possible to provide quite a few services "on the go", however there is still a requirement to have a docked Medi-Pod for longer and more complicated consultations and procedures. And therefore at two part system will be proposed: Docked Medi-Pod and the Commuting Medi-Pod

Commuting Times

Destination Roma St Station
Times base on Translink website

Rail

Beenleigh station 42 min
Ipswich station         56 min
Caboolture station 68 min
Narangba station 56 min
Strathpine station 40 min
Robina station           72 min
Woodridge station 41 min
Salisbury station         25 min
Ferny Grove station 33 min
Domestic Airport 27 min
Cleveland station 61 min
Manly station           40 min
Helensvale station 61 min
Bald Hills station 37 min
Nambour station 137 min
Mooloolah station 92 min
Lawnton station 45 min

Bus
Chermside                27 min

Medical consultation times

Dental Care
times based on forums (peoples experiences)

Dental Check up                25 min to 40 min
Dental Clean                     30 min to 60 min
Dental crown procedure      45 min to 60 min

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-should-i-expect-from-a-dental-cleaning.htm#
http://www.realself.com/question/long-dental-crown-procedure
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080502115131AAMEl35
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_length_of_time_for_a_dental_check-up


Chiropractic Care
times based on forums (peoples experiences) and practitioners websites

First appointment 30min to 60min
general chiropractic appointment 05min to 15min

http://www.levinechiropractic.com/pages/faq.html#12
http://www.bronstonchiro.com/frequently-asked-chiropractic-questions.php
http://www.greenhillfamilychiropractic.com.au/faqs.html


General Practitioner (GP)
times based on practitioners websites

short appointment length                       05       min
standard appointment length 10 to 20 min
long appointment length 20 to 40 min

http://www.twoonefive.com.au/PracticeInfo/Aboutyourappointment.aspx
http://www.hermitparkclinic.com.au/appointments/
http://www.yourhealth.net.au/Practice.aspx?id=128&page=130


Vaccinations
general appointment                           30 to 60 min

http://www.traveldoctor.com.au/Content/Knowledge-Hub/About-your-visit
http://www.globemedical.com.au/travelmedicine/faq

Long-neglected outback

It as been claimed that remote Australia fits the definition of a Failed State.


Fred Chaney (2008), former Indigenous Affairs Minister, describes that failed state common characteristics are: prevalence of poverty, lack of security from violence, lack of capacity to provide basic services and needs and lack of legitimacy of government in the live of the people.

Chaney (2008) & (2012) explains that remote Australia makes up 85% of the land mass of Australia accommodates, 2/3 of the country's wealth, 5% of population with few areas of great wealth production, however the population is very scattered.

As Chaney (2012) states, most of government services and administration approach has a huge reliance of markets which do not exist through out most of Australia's geographical area. This and the vastness of remote Australia makes it extremely difficult to provide basic services to the population of this area and develop a strong government-community relationship.

The Government doesn't work to the satisfaction of the people of the area, 
there is great dissatisfaction of the reforms that are enforced from the "outside", with no consistency with the different levels of governments or local communities


Therefore a new system is needed that deliver outcomes and services where and when they are needed and desired. This project is primarily concerned with the lack of basic services such as the much needed health care services that people in cities take for granted. 



Chaney, F. (2012, September 10) Fixing the hole in Australia's heartland
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-10/fixing-the-hole-in-australias-heartland/4252814

Chaney, F. (2008, September 1) Desert Knowledge pushes for rural governance reform
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-09-15/desert-knowledge-pushes-for-rural-governance-reform/510956

Minimum Requirment

The minimum requiremnt for the realisation of this proposal is:
1 - Medi-Practitioner ( remote using the Medi-Control)
1 - Medi-Assistant ( at Medi-Pod site to assist and comfort the Patient and assist the Medi-Practioner)
1 - Patient
1 - Medi-Pod
1 - Medi- Control

This is a modular system that can be scaled up; however,  logistical requirement need to met.
Medi-Go is the response to this need. As this system grows and develops it becomes more dynamic, flexable and responsive to public health needs as more and more Patients and Practitionser are no longer geographicly contrained to access this system

Logistics, Facility and Space

Today's Lecture discussed 3 key issues that need to be considered: Space, facility, logistics.

Logistics
Logistics will be introduce at the beginning of the project as this is essential to define the context of the design and the experience of participants.

Medi-Go, an overaching intellgent logistics platform, that accesses the database of SMDSA from Project.
Through monitoring the population's geogratic, demographic and medical profiles Medi-go is able to optimise the distribution of Medi-Pods to provide maximise health care access through out Australia.

There Opportunities are for exploring the logistics of Patient and Practitioner interaction with the Medi-Pod with  the Medi-Platorm and Medi-Control

Facility
All Architectural Possibilities mentioned in the first post are by their very nature are facilities that facilitates an action or process to serve a particular function,

1. Medi-Action,       Task-force to initiate change and paradigm shift
2. Medi-pod,           Mobile health care apparatus 
3. Medi-go,             Management and distribution
4. Medi-Platform,    Interface with city, urban and remote locations
5. Medi-Control,     Practitioners remote control interface with Medi-pod ()

it is this projects purpose to explore the experiences of these Facilities.

Space

There are two types of space that needs to be addressed, space created by the architectural response as well as the space that contains it. It is important to consister the relationship between these spaces and the role the architectural response plays.

There are three types spaces currently that this Project intends to respond to and provide an alternative for:

vast remote isolating space - experienced by remote communities within Australia Regional Areas
confined tense, high stress space - experienced by medical practitioners
fragmented, high paced space - communters within Australian Cities

Robotic Surgery

Robotic Surgery exists,

As architects we ask how can we utilise this technology with other technologies such as internet connectivity, social networking, transportation, bio-informatics such as the Nano-chip to improve the evasive and emergency health care interface with the Public.

http://www.queenslandroboticsurgery.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_surgery

Medicine's future and Architectural Possibilities

Daniel Kraft states in "Medicine's future? There's an app for that"
that Leveraging Cross-Disciplinary Exponentially growing Technologies will play a major role in our future health, well-being.

Architects are in a unique position due to their skill sets, and design thinking processes to
coordinate and integrate different systems and technologies and interface them with society and individuals.

Architects do not have the skills or expertise to perform or design within any of the specialised fields, however their ability to research and inform themselves with general knowledge and possibilities of each specialist field to become a facilitator and coordinator to encourage synergies between different technologies and through their design thinking process explore the interface to optimise the human experience.


http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kraft_medicine_s_future.html

Medi-Practitioners Office

Medi - Office

The Medi-Practitioners Office has been modelled base on two fundamental needs of the Practitioner: A focused controlled environment and a relaxed environment to relax, recover, revitalise and socialised.

Medi-Control is integral to the Medi-Practitioners office and work environment, however a degree of separation is required to ensure minimal distractions and create an environment to achieve best Medi-Practitioner performance. Through Medi-Control Medi-Practitioners are able to control and operate the Medi-Pod remotely eliminating issues of accessibility to patients and maintaining a familiar and controlled environment for the practitioner to operate.

Medi-Office has responded to the recognition that Medi -Practitioners need down time to recover and re-energise, interaction with other practitioners to maintain enthusiasm and continued professional development.

Note:  This sketch is only attempting to convey the desired experience for the practitioner.
This project is more concerned with the interface and experiences with stakeholders

Decentralised Health Care Service

Exploring the public interface of the new Health Care Sytem: Medi-Pod 

This Medi-Pod Health Care System, addresses the issues discussed in Environmental Adaptability (1958), segmentation, standardisation and specialisation through a modular framework, this create a system that has flexibility and adaptability. This system can respond to economic, health, demographic, geographic and participants needs from patients to practitioners. 

Lynch, K., Banerjee, T., & Southworth, M. (1990). City sense and city design : writings and projects of Kevin Lynch. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Challenges medical Practitioners Face

The health and wellbeing of junior doctors: insights from a national survey

Alexandra L Markwell and Zoe Wainer

Med J Aust 2009; 191 (8): 441-444.

• Article
• Authors
• References

Abstract

• Junior doctors face specific pressures related to their professional stage and development and can be at risk of poor health.
• A confidential survey conducted in 2008 by the Australian Medical Association Council of Doctors in Training investigated the health and wellbeing of junior doctors.
• There were 914 completed surveys: 71% of junior doctors were concerned about their own health, and 63% about the health of a colleague.
• A majority of junior doctors met well established criteria for low job satisfaction (71%), burnout (69%) and compassion fatigue (54%).
• The early stages of a medical career are demanding, and the health and wellbeing of junior doctors must be a personal priority, as well as the responsibility of the medical profession in general, to ensure a healthy medical workforce in the future.

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/191/8/health-and-wellbeing-junior-doctors-insights-national-survey

Life Balance

Life Balance is crucial to a strong and resilient Medical workforce, job satisfaction is a better predictor of work quality than long hours on site. High drug abuse and suicide is linked to poor work life balance. 
http://afmw.org.au/leadership/164-maintaining-a-work-life-balance

Response to Readings,

Medi-Action, a new task-force to restructure the medical industry and it culture, utilising new technologies and systems to create a new Medical Framework that accommodates medical practitioners lifestyles.

Health Statistics: Aboriginal Case study

Data from Australian Bureau of Statistics

• life expectancy of Aboriginal adTorres Strait Islanders males born in 2005-2007 67.2 years 11.5 years lower than non-indigenous males

• A larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths occur at younger ages than non-Indigenous deaths. For example, 6% of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males were in the 15–24 age group, compared to 1% of deaths of non-Indigenous males.

• Nearly one-third (32%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 years and over had experienced high/very high levels of psychological distress, which was more than twice the rate for non-Indigenous people.

• Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with improved health outcomes:

Response to ABS data:

There are some major issues that need to be addressed:

1. Access to health care services
2. Education
3. Trust

Medi-pod can address these concerns through the following ways.

1. Medi-pods can be transported to remote locations where needed to provide needed health care services.
2. Medi-pod will also provide multi-media educational programs to promote good heath outcomes
3. Medi-pod will develop trust through positive interaction and co-operation with communities.

Access to Health and Services: Aboriginal Case Study

Data from Australian Bureau of Statistics

• 38% could not access Aboriginal health care services

• Nationally, just over one-quarter (26%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over (adults) reported problems accessing one or more health services

• Nationally, the most commonly reported problems encountered were long waiting time/no appointment when needed (by 48% of people), not enough services in area (39%), and no services in area (35%). 

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults were most likely to experience problems accessing dentists (20% reported problems), followed by doctors (10%) and hospitals (7%).

Response to ABS Data

Access to health care services in remote areas of Australia is a major concern. Especially remote Australian Indigenous populations and communities. The health statistics of Australian aboriginals are shocking, the lower life expectancy and high death rates at younger ages need to be addressed.

Medi-Pod,.............................

Project 2 Direction

The Direction of project 2 is the continuation of Project 1. 

http://dab810-project1-dalepartridge.blogspot.com.au/

Project 1 proposes a Predictive, Preventative and Automatic Administrating Health System achieved through Nano Technology.

Project 2 assumes that Project 1 is in fact reality and explores the consequences to the Health  Care System in particular: The framework and procedures of Invasive Medical Treatments and  Emergency Response at the individual level.

Key Points defining this project.

• The burden on the Australian Health Care System has diminished
• Public health care paradigm shift from centralised system to dynamic nodal system
• a mobile health care infrastructure (Medi-pod), utilises public transport and road networks
• dynamic nodal system responds and adapts to public health environment
• practitioner with specialised skills, treatments and services have access to patients remotely
• specialised medical treatments has opened up nationally to all Australians
• ability of the Medi-pod system to respond to public health policies and goal

Project 2 will attempt to explore 3 perspectives of the medi-pod experience: 

1. The practitioner
2. Patient in Capital City
3. Patient in isolated community (eg Aboriginal Community)

Possible Architectural Responses

1. Medi-Action,       Task-force to initiate change and paradigm shift
2. Medi-pod,           Mobile health care apparatus 
3. Medi-go,              Management and distribution
4. Medi-Platform,    Interface with city, urban and remote locations
5. Medi-Control,      Practitioners remote control interface with Medi-pod ()