The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) launched the ‘Home as a Health Care Hub’ initiative to respond to an increased need for home-based health solutions, particularly in underserved communities. As part of this effort, FDA contracted HKS, an interdisciplinary global design firm, to develop digital prototypes of home environments; these adaptable, scalable prototypes represent the homes of people in low-income communities who are living with chronic conditions such as diabetes. Using virtual reality (VR), the initiative provides a groundbreaking approach to integrating medical devices into home settings to help improve health equity and outcomes.

In this session, FDA and HKS will share how the team translated insights obtained from diverse stakeholders – including patients with diabetes, their care partners, health care providers and medical device developers -- to design virtual experiences of affordable homes, which will serve as an idea lab and tool to aid in medical device design. This session will inspire multi-disciplinary collaborations and promote a collective effort towards transforming the home into a nexus for health and wellness.

Learning Objectives

1. Uncover how design can help advance health equity in underserved communities

2. Promote news ways to work and improve people’s lives through design

3. Advocate for multiple industries coming together for a cause and creating scalable solutions

4. Inspire designers and industry partners to explore how VR and idea lab-type technologies can create impactful solutions with a broader reach