The Educated Guess

Category: Healthcare

  • From Both Sides of the Bedside: My Virtual Ward Experience & The Future of UK Healthcare at Home

    The pandemic threw many established healthcare norms into stark relief, accelerating changes that once seemed distant possibilities. My own experience-being informed I would be ‘nursed on a virtual ward’ during COVID-19s frightening and uncertain first wave-transformed the abstract concept of decentralised care into a deeply personal reality. While familiar with hospital processes as a nurse, navigating this new model as a patient was disorienting, blending the undeniable comfort of my own home with a profound sense of isolation and a unique reliance of the then-nascent technology. It was a stark illustration of a healthcare system under duress, innovating at speed.

    This episode of The Educated Guess will explore this significant systemic movement towards ‘hospital at home’ and other decentralised care models, a shift driven by urgent hospital pressures and catalysed by rapid technological advancement. Drawing upon my dual perspective – the insights gained from the frontlines of nursing, alongside the lived experience of receiving care within such an evolving system – we will dissect the drivers behind this transformation, the technologies that underpin it, and critically examine both the compelling potential and the inherent pitfalls. The aim is to foster a deeper understanding of how these models are reshaping healthcare delivery and what is required to ensure they are safe, effective and truly – patient-centred.

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  • Conquer Information Overload: How NotebookLM AI Can Help with Documents

    As healthcare professionals and educators, we’re constantly drowning in a sea of documents. New guidelines, updated policies, essential research papers, training materials….. these complex and often lengthy documents can take time to read and extract the information needed. Synthesising and understanding the document is also another issue in a time when we are all being asked to do more with less. Could Artificial Intelligence (AI) help us? While we often hear about complex AI in diagnostics or administration, what about tools that help with everyday challenge of managing information? Following on from previous episodes of The Educated Guess, let’s explore Notebook LM and its potential to help staff interact with their documents.

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  • Play to Learn, Play to Heal: Unlocking Gamification’s Potential in Education & Healthcare

    Uninspired students, dull textbooks, healthcare routines that feel like chores – the struggle for sustained engagement in learning and wellness is a familiar one. This isn’t just a student problem; it’s a critical challenge for adult learning providers like higher education today. But what if the answer lies in play?

    Enter gamification: the strategic application of game mechanics – like challenge, reward, social interaction, and progress – to make non-game contexts more absorbing and effective. It’s far more than just points and badges; it’s about leveraging core human motivators. While explored in many fields, gamification is proving truly transformative in education and healthcare (Shurui et al, 2020, Sailer & Homner, 2020).

    In this episode of The Educated Guess, we’ll unpack the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of gamification across these vital sectors. We’ll look closely at how I’ve designed and implemented games to boost student motivation and retention, and how healthcare providers are using game mechanics to empower patients and improve treatment adherence. Stick around as we explore the research, compelling case studies, and the exciting future of integrating play into the serious business of learning and healing.

    Image source: Generate by Gemini

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  • AI and Equity: Revolutionising Inclusive Learning Environments

    Imagine this: a student with dyslexia, struggling to keep pace with a lecture, while another student, a visual learner, thrives with interactive simulations. This is the reality of our classrooms – a rich tapestry of learning differences and preferences that often go unaddressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Time, as with many industries, is our most valuable commodity, especially in healthcare and education. As an educator, I strive to provide an effective and engaging learning experience that optimises time while addressing individual learning differences. This is a complex task when your cohort is 15, but exponentially so with 100. In this episode of The Educated Guess, we’ll explore how AI can help us support greater educational equity for all learners in the classroom. In this post, the use of some specific AI tools is mentioned. I have no affiliation with any of these companies, nor have I received any financial or other incentives to make this content.

    Image source: generated by Gemini

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