In hospitals, many patient falls occur when patients attempt to reach for their call bell or move to retrieve it.
UNC School of Medicine student teams came together to collaborate on solutions through the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice’s Design-a-thon at the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center.
“Fear, disconnection, frustration, anger — these are the things that patients feel when they can’t find their call bell and can’t ask for help,” said Melissa Hall ‘27, a clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling student. “As a team from medicine, biomedical engineering, speech-language pathology and mental health counseling, we set out to come up with a creative solution to help patients feel safe, mentally, physically and emotionally.”
Hall and teammates were immersed in a human-centered design process, which is an empathetic and iterative approach to problem-solving. They engaged with physicians, nurses, therapists, biomedical engineers and each other for inspiration, ideas and ways to implement.
“Students need to understand and think deeply about the problems that we don’t currently have solutions to and feel like they have the skills to go out and find those solutions,” said Ryan Nilsen, deputy director for interprofessional health initiatives. “The Design-a-thon gives students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and tackle real-world challenges together thanks to partners like UNC Health, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, BeAM Makerspace and Devin Hubbard in the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering.”
Bringing the solution to life
At a cost of $25.42 per room, the winning team’s prototype aims to reduce falls with an easy‑to‑implement system. The solution consists of a silicone tie, chair holder, cord cover, and glow-in-the-dark call bell cover that:
- Keeps the call bell in reach by securing and limiting its movement;
- Improves visibility in various level of lighting;
- Works safely across a wide range of patient populations; and
- Cleans easily and requires no permanent modifications.
Experiences like this are exactly where Carolina shines, fueling student growth and success while serving to benefit society.
For Hall’s teammate Rachel Clark ‘27, a speech-language pathology student, the experience exceeded expectations.
“I learned how to effectively communicate with my peers and use our clinical and analytical skills to come up with a solution,” Clark said. “I am coming out of this experience feeling excited about working with my future health care professionals and am looking forward to making a positive difference.”