MVO Sustainable and supportive garments for nurses

by-wire.net was involved in the wonderful development and co-creation process between 4 ambitious care/cure institutes, three work wear producers and textile experts. Here pictures of the results during a conference for the health sector in Rotterdam, December 4. 2014. See the posture sensor, the gas sensor, the supportive under layer, the futuristic pattern design and the comfortable materials.

What you don’t see: the materials are as sustainable as possible, so also better for our world. More info here >> (in Dutch). And RTL Boulevard (minute 13:58)

Pictures: Jan Willem Groen

by-wire.net took the responsibility to inspire the group with the latest innovations, coordinate the development between the different stakeholders, develop the concept and direction, design the garments together with Marloes Blaas and shared the developments via process documentation and catwalk shows as you see here.

MVO Caring workwear is targeted to the nurses and caregivers. The comfortable garments are designed as uniform systems: The undergarment gives health professionals – who perform a very physical job – support in shoulders, lower back and knees by their pattern construction and fabric choice. The outerwear is equipped with an anti-bacterial coating, which helps to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination. Electronic ‘wearables’ in the garments can keep issuing a warning signal in case of overload and unbalanced postures; you can track your posture behaviour with an app. A gas sensor warns you about risks in the air around the wearer.
The clothing is also caring for creators and the environment. Workers with a fair wage and in safe workplaces produce the pieces in factories in Tunisia and Bangladesh. The production is as environmentally friendly as possible, for example with C2C certified PLA/Tencel. They can be recycled, which helps to reduce the waste of healthcare institutions.

Benefits: healthy employees, less absenteeism and lower management costs. Traditional care institutions look mainly to the acquisition cost if they buy workwear. However, the cheapest jacket may prove more expensive than a smart, sustainable alternative, if you calculate the full costs of work wear. That means including the costs of maintenance and processing, but also the savings when you avoid a infection.
The caregivers don’t have to compromise on comfort. Employees tested the fabrics and judged it better than their current clothing.

 

We continue to develop and test the uniform systems as we aim is to make these innovations accessible for all professionals in healthcare.

Partners: Alcon Advies, BrabantZorg, by-wire.net, DutchSpirit, JJH Textiles, Newasco, Radboudumc, UMC Groningen, UMC Utrecht en Van Puijenbroek Textiel, process management by MVO Netwerk Zorg, in collaboration with the international experts of MVO Nederland.