Medstrom Healthcare invests significantly in clinical education with innovative Interactive Academy
Age-simulation suits, Amazon Alexa’s technology and a new CPD-accredited course are among some of the features providing hands-on learning with clinically-led content to healthcare professionals at Medstrom Healthcare’s newly-launched Medstrom Academy.
Providing a space to deliver first-class training and education, the purpose-built learning centre covers clinical challenges encountered across four specialist healthcare fields: pressure area care, immobility, falls and safe mobilisation, and plus-sized patients.
A UK manufacturer of specialist hospital beds and independent provider of bed management services, Medstrom Healthcare works with hospitals throughout the UK and Ireland to provide products and specialists services to help improve patient outcomes.
The company says it is through working closely with its hospital partners that has helped the company identify and create the clinical challenges addressed in its Medstrom Academy.
Having been heavily involved in the launch of the Medstrom Academy, Deborah Newcombe, Clinical Director for Medstrom, commented: “Over the last year we have been working hard to create an educational centre that marries clinical challenges with evidence and solutions, to create an unforgettable and immersive experience. It is really exciting to be able to share such a unique space with our colleagues throughout the healthcare sector!”
Showcasing the manufacturer’s range of solutions, the academy is divided between the four different clinical areas, with each field exploring the financial and physical impacts felt by the NHS and its patients.
According to Medstrom, each clinical challenge is supported with industry evidence & statistics referenced using credible sources, such as clinical journals and articles.
“Using referenced materials ensures we align as closely as possible to the clinical objectives of our visitors,” explained Deborah.
“We encourage people to use the Medstrom Academy as an educational tool. Coupled with the launch of our CPD accredited courses that we can deliver in the Academy, we hope our new centre will become a helpful part of visitors’ professional development.”
Promoting hands-on training, each area of the new facility includes various interactive elements on display throughout the academy, including empathy suits to give healthcare professionals insight into the challenges facing patients.
“We wanted to really immerse people into the individual clinical challenges that confront the NHS every day. Being a very practical learner myself, having the ability to experience a condition, situation or condition from a patient’s perspective, makes learning far more impactful,” continued Deborah.
“There are two suits available to achieve this, one for visitors to experience frailty via an age-simulation suit, and the other to experience body morphology via a plus-sized patient suit. For example, with the help of the age simulation suit, visitors can experience first-hand decreased mobility and diminished physical senses, such as hearing and sight.
“Altogether, it puts into perspective the challenges that older patients face, and the increased risks associated with simple tasks such as mobilising from a bed safely. By putting visitors in the patient’s perspective, we can then educate how to use products correctly, and demonstrate why selecting the right specification of equipment, such as a bedframe, is so important for both the patient and the caregiver.”
Highlighting that the facility’s open layout provides healthcare providers with the freedom to journey through the various areas and dedicate more time to areas that are most relevant, the Medstrom Academy has also implemented Amazon’s Alex technology to act as an interactive companion.
Noting it is among the first healthcare companies to utilise the voice-enabled technology in this way, Medstrom says Alexa has been programmed to answer questions that are distributed throughout the various clinical areas, such as “Alexa, where did the name Dolphin Therapy come from?”
Located in East Midlands’ Castle Donington, the bed manufacturer confirmed that the Academy is available to be used as a free venue for recognised groups such as NBE, TVS, critical care networks, and NHS Trusts, stating it “offers an ideal location for regional study days, or hosting events in its spacious seating area.”
