Lifespace - The Background behind the concept - Rooms within Rooms.

This Article explains a bit more about the Lifespace concept - its development and the key influences...

When I was writing for my PhD in around 2010, I was introduced to Professor Steven Heppell, as part of my studies. I was seeking a way of making Paramedic Education more fun and relevant, and was exploring new techniques for engagement of students in clinical simulation.

Professor Heppell had been designing Learning Spaces for children and studying the effectiveness of “ rooms within rooms” - I went to see Professor Heppell, who showed me his work - he started sharing photos of "Rooms within Rooms" - such as the photo below from Queensland.

Professor Heppell explained that Teenagers and others felt safer and more engaged when working within their smaller spaces. And that Teachers felt reassured that they could still see their students... and provide support.

This meeting in 2010 was the start of a great deal of thinking... I thought "it would be great to do the same for professional / vocational students, but in a way that creates and reinforces their professional identity.

https://rubble.heppell.net/rooms_in_rooms/

Professor Heppell also shared his love of inflatable spaces which were easy to inflate and could be moved away when not needed. Space saving and multi purpose...

This stirred a 5 year journey - and desire to establish a safe learning space for Paramedic students. 

It seems obvious to say this, but, Innovation includes a great deal of Trial and Error, and often a great deal of expense...

My Business Partner and I decided that we wanted to develop a space that would reinforce professional identity, which could still be used for simulation activity or as a break away self study area. 

So where did we start ? 

We started with an inflatable ambulance! It was rubbish! It was truly awful - unsafe- wobbly and not at all effective. But lessons were learned! 

We experimented with Projection Screens - but these also were not strong enough for a room full of paramedic students.

So it was time to think again...

Enter the Fold Away Ambulance - 

The final design used a number of connectable boards - which we could make bespoke to each NHS trust, it would fold flat when not in use, but could also create a 3mtr x 2mtr confined learning space. (Similar in Size to a Vehicle).

The Fold Away Ambulance would take a stretcher and a number of chairs, so that the students could practice skills in a space that was familiar to them, which reinforced professional identity and could still be :-

Robust enough to have a student fall against it... ?

Realistic enough to create the unease associated with lone working in a confined space?

Easy to store when not in use?

Easy to wipe Clean ?

The Fold away Ambulance has continued to Evolve into the Lifespace - https://www.mdtglobalsolutions.com/lifespace - it takes less than 2 minutes to put up, can fit within a classroom and ticks all of the boxes above...

We are now able to make other environments- clinical ward spaces, helicopter spaces in fact any environment you would expect clinical students to work in... 

We have exported our Lifespaces Beyond the U.K. into Europe, the Middle East, America and Australasia. 

Please get in contact with the team at MDT to know more... 

The Next Article will delve into what we have learned from Training our students within the Lifespace... To be Continued...