Section: Technology and Knowledge

Makers from around the globe responded very fast to the COVID-19 crisis and the local shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare-related products. They successfully supported healthcare professionals, local community members and citizens in the pandemic. However, stable networks and new models of scaling are needed to maintain response options from such grassroots initatives in the future.

In this qualitative study we present five cases from a global network of makers that contributed to the production of PPE and healthcare-related products. We draw our cases from the experiences made in Careables, a mixed community of people and organizations committed to the co-design and making of open, personalized healthcare for everyone. With the presented cases we reflect on the potential implications for post-pandemic local production of healthcare products and analyze them from a social innovation perspective. These global experiences are valuable indications of transformative innovations that can reduce dependencies from international supply chains and mainstream mass production.

Available for download here: 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.629587/full

Authors: Kieslinger, B., Schäfer / Schaefer, T., Fabian, C., Biasin, Elisabetta Bassi, Enrico Ruiz Freire, Ricardo Mowoh, Nadine Arif, Nawres Melis, Paulien

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• News: Careables - sharing open healthcare
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• Project: Open and Inclusive Healthcare for Citizens Based on Digital Fabrication

Tags: health, maker movement