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FACULTY FOCUS
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A step towards safety
New shoe designed for nurses highlights a lack of safety regulations .
By Elise Hartevelt
What started as a project to help provide feedback to diabetic patients who ’ d lost sensation in their feet became a brand-new footwear concept for healthcare workers .
Monash University and Blundstone Australia put their heads together to design footwear for nurses and healthcare professionals to advance their safety and comfort while working .
High-tech sensors in the shoes analyse various parts of the foot and send feedback to a smartphone app , which allows the wearer to monitor their activities throughout shifts .
Doctor Rowan Page from the Monash Health Design Collab said there ’ s a need to improve nurses ’ footwear and increase safety considering a lack of appropriate regulations .
“ We identified that healthcare workers had quite a high level of risk ,” Page told Campus Review .
“ They are on their feet a lot and are lifting heavy loads – they perform many similar activities you might see in highrisk occupations , but they don ’ t have any regulations or specific safety footwear .
“ So we saw a great opportunity to dive into healthcare and see if there are other options to improve the experience of their footwear .”
On a 12-hour shift , a nurse walks roughly four to five miles – double the distance of the average Australian .
To create footwear that can prevent injuries before they occur , researchers designed the sensors to identify different postures , variations in walking gait and weight lifted during a shift .
They also inform the wearer where they might experience high body pressures , identifying personal risk areas .
“ It shows how active you were , but also whether you were active in a safe way and not lifting too much ,” Page said .
“ The information can guide people towards those healthier behaviours during work .”
During the concept design , the researchers noticed a high amount of variability in what people wore , ranging from sneakers to rubber clogs .
They also asked healthcare workers what they thought were the essential features of their footwear .
“ They were interested in materials that were easy to clean , effortless to take on and off , more comfortable and lighter weight ,” Page said .
“ So we wanted to create something that ’ s a boot , but with more of a sneaker-style midsole , so it ’ s quite lightweight .
On a 12-hour shift , a nurse walks roughly four to five miles .
“ We also looked into new materials that made the shoes more manoeuvrable .”
The shoe has parts made of non-leather material and parts of microfibre material , so it has antibacterial properties and breathes well .
“ We ’ ve made the elastic section on the boot a lot larger than your typical elastic – it ’ s an engineered net , so it ’ s got a variable kind of elasticity to it making it easier to take on and off ,” Page said .
“ We didn ’ t want laces because they were difficult to clean .”
Page said the technology could be improved to highlight other health indicators such as injury risk and fatigue .
Shortlisted for the Designers Australia Awards 2022 , the team hopes the concept will inspire other footwear producers to improve shoes for healthcare workers .
They emphasised that the shoe is still a concept and unlikely to hit the Australian markets soon .
“ We hope the concept will inform future footwear coming onto the market ,” Page said .
“ So , unfortunately , it ’ d be hard to put a timeframe to being able to buy something like this .” ■
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