Press Release
A' Design Award in Home Appliances Design Goes to PharmAssist Medication Management Device by Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin
Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin recognized for home appliances design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Home Appliances Design category for PharmAssist Medication Management Device by Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin, designed for Arizona State University. The award was conferred within the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the A' Design Award
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
About PharmAssist Medication Management Device
PharmAssist is an automated medication management device for home use. The low-profile unit fits into the front face of a residential refrigerator, in place of a standard water and ice dispenser. Prescriptions arrive in compatible bottles that are inserted into the device and read through an NFC chip. Visual and audio alerts are given, and medications are dispensed at preset times through a side chute. Refill requests are sent to the pharmacy automatically. The design helps older people manage medication safely at home.
About Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin
Dosun Shin is a Professor of Industrial Design program in The Design School at Arizona State University in the U.S. He holds a BFA in Industrial Design and received a MFA degree in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2003. Prof. Shin started his design practice from 1999 working both in design consultancies and corporations. Since he arrived at ASU in 2004, he has continued to grow as a design practitioner, researcher, and educator in the discipline of Industrial Design to drive new product innovation through transdisciplinary collaborations.
Award Record
Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin is a winner of 3 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2016 - 2017 and the 2019 - 2020 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Home Appliances Design Award
The A' Home Appliance Design Award is an international competition recognizing good home appliance designs by best appliance designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to home appliance designers, industrial designers, product engineers and appliance brands from all countries. Typical entries include refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, dryers and ovens. The awarded home appliance designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/home-appliance
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/92102
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/92102
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!92102
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/179791
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- PharmAssist Medication Management Device
- Function
- Medication Management Device
- Category
- Home Appliances Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Electronics & Appliances and Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Black, Dim Gray, White and Silver
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Arizona State University
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #92102
Credits
- Team
- Muriel Shields and Dosun Shin
- Image Credits
- Main Image, Image #1, 2, 3, 4: Muriel Shields Video Credits: Muriel Shields
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- PharmAssist is an in-home, low-profile, automated medication management device designed to fit in a residential refrigerator in place of a standard water and ice dispensing unit. This system is designed primarily for elderly patients, and emits visual and audio alerts, dispenses medications at pre-programmed times throughout the day, and automatically sends digital refill requests to the patient’s pharmacy.
- Inspiration
- Aging in place is becoming an increasingly popular trend in the United States. Many elderly patients now choose to live at home rather than transition to a nursing home or assisted care facility. Though there are many benefits to staying in the same environment, there are also risks. After conducting interviews at Phoenix-based nursing homes and within Arizona State University’s geriatric nursing program, it became clear that one of the most prominent risks is the mismanagement of medication.
- Research
- Interviews became the primary type of research for PharmAssist. The intent was to establish the most common risks for aging in place, and collect more information about existing solutions to make this practice safer and more comfortable. Interview questions were prepared beforehand, and all discussions were filmed or voice recorded for reference. Formal interviews were conducted with Geriatric Nursing Professors from Arizona State University’s nursing school, as well as with employees at an assisted living facility in Phoenix. Informal interviews with contacts that had assisted older relatives with in-home care were also taken into account.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was designing a device that would encourage rather than demean the user when on display in their home. Several of the geriatric nursing professors at ASU explained many elderly patients hesitate to use existing medication management devices for fear that they will signal a lack of independence to guests entering the home. This influenced the decision to create a functional, yet low profile solution that fits seamlessly into a modern user’s home.
- Realization and Technology
- Interviews with nurses and nursing professors indicated that most existing medication management devices are set up in the kitchen. While sketching and building foam core prototypes, we decided to integrate the device into the front face of the refrigerator to give it a lower-profile and tie it in more seamlessly with the health and wellness hub of the home. After settling in this direction, we created a series of CAD iterations and an appearance model with a professonal prototyping company.
- Operation and Interaction
- After the initial setup, the customer will receive all prescriptions in a PharmAssist compatible bottle that is then inserted into the device. PharmAssist will read information off the bottle's NFC chip to emit visual and audio alerts, dispense the user’s medications at pre-programmed times through the left-side chute, and automatically send refill requests to the patient’s pharmacy. This will decrease the amount of human error for elderly patients who choose to administer their own medication.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project was completed at Arizona State University in U.S. from September 2015 to December 2015. PharmAssist was also exhibited at by Model Solution company who fabricated the appearance model in their 2016 showcase at the International IDSA Conference in Detroit in the U.S.
- Specifications
- Height 374mm x Width 304mm x Depth 98mm
- Keywords
- Medication, Medication Management, Elderly Care, Geriatric Care, Smart Home, Connected
