Unique project brings together art students to solve health system challenges

A joint initiative between the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba is the Florence Project, which aims to solve some challenges in the health system.

The Florence Project is led by students in one of their last semesters; their focus is to handle real challenges of the health system in cooperation with the staff of the medical center, headed by associate director general Yarden Nevo. 

A design studio was opened inside the hospital where processes are tested, needs are identified and precise solutions are developed for hospital visitors. The program utilizes many subjects taught at Bezalel like design thinking, service design, space and product design, user experience, animation, visual communication, etc. 

The second round

This is the second round of the program and within its framework students deal with the experience of being in the internal departments and in the process of transporting children from their rooms to the operating suites. 

The first program, which ended at the end of 2021, yielded solutions, about half of which were implemented in one children's department. Currently these new processes are being implemented in other departments in the Saban Pediatric Medical Center at Soroka.

Michal Eitan, former head of the master's degree program in industrial design at Bezalel Academy and currently a senior lecturer in the program, initiated and manages the project. She stated that the Florence Project is a living laboratory that allows people to examine the dramatic impact that the worlds of design and architecture can offer to the healthcare system, which is in constant and rapid change.

Nevo added that this innovative project allows for direct contact and experience in the field and not in academic laboratory conditions. It provides a creative solution outside the box with innovative tools that weren't used in the medical world until now.