Youngsters inject winning ideas as Dr Pixie McKenna commends Design for Health Award
TV's Dr Pixie McKenna and the Child Growth Foundation announced the winners for the Design for Health Award which ran throughout last summer.
The Design for Health Award was launched in July 2010 by Dr Christian Jessen, presenter of Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies, Embarrassing Illnesses and Supersize vs Superskinny, and the Child Growth Foundation. Sponsored by Merck Serono, in partnership with the Royal College of Art, entrants were asked to submit an illustration and description of their ideal injection device. You may remember seeing it on the TWU website or on posters in hospital clinics.
Following a high standard of entries from young people across the UK, the winners were selected by an expert panel of judges from Great Ormond Street Hospital, Birmingham Children's Hospital, the Child Growth Foundation and the Royal College of Art's Helen Hamlyn Centre.
Jade Marshall, aged 11 from Hindhead, Surrey, won the under 13 years category of the Design for Health Award. Her winning entry demonstrated the importance of making the injection device attractive to young patients with its smiley, ladybird shape and original features. Jade explains her design: "I wanted to make my device something I would look forward to using and hope it would make users smile!"
Jade's design included a hidden needle and squidgy material to provide pain relief when squeezed. In addition, all the steps are pre-set so the user only has to squeeze the ladybird and wait until the squeaking has stopped to know the injection has finished.
The winner of the age 13-18 years category aimed her design at patients who have a fear or dislike of needles. Jessica Breese, aged 16 from Sheffield, Yorkshire, explains her design's unique features: "The dome on top of the device contains fish, which fall as the person is being injected. The idea of this is to relax them and give them something to take their mind off the injection." Jessica's device also included a hidden needle.
Dr Pixie McKenna with the two winners Jessica Breeze, 16 and Jade Marshall, 11
An Award presentation was held at the Design Museum in London, where the two winners were presented with their Design for Health Award by Dr Pixie McKenna, also from Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies and Embarrassing Illnesses. The winners also had the opportunity to spend a day with a product designer from the Royal College of Art's Helen Hamlyn Centre to further develop their ideas.
Dr Pixie McKenna explains the importance of the Design for Health Award:
"Even for adults, using an injection device is a major hassle and for kids it can be a big disruption to their lives. We saw the Design for Health Award as a fantastic opportunity for young people to start thinking about their health and share their ideas in a creative way. We were overwhelmed by the quality of entries and by the insight the children have on improving injection devices to suit their needs."