4. Double Agency
double agent n. A spy who works on behalf of mutually hostile countries, usually
with actual allegiance only to one.
— Oxford English Dictionary
Double Agency was an event of many forms.
One part was the Double Agency Publication. Where we invited friends/peers who are what I call “Double Agents” --- people qualified/practicing as healthcare professionals but who are also Artist/designers/curators. I argue that having these skills are at tension within institutions of health and of education, when they should be used together - which would enhance the care/work systems. The publication is a series of creative and critical essays/images/acts crappling critically with these tensions. You can download it here.
We then invited delegates at the Design4Health conference to experience Double Agency, an encounter with four double agent practitioners, who waited to meet with people and enter into critical and material dialogue with them personally, for 10 minutes.
You could book a slot using the interactive booking system, which is in itself, along with the accompanying waiting room, an opportunity to consider the experience of receiving health care. The whole experience takes 40 minutes and is for a maximum of two delegates at a time. There is a limited number of places on the Double Agency experience and they are scheduled during networking and refreshment breaks throughout the conference.
Debbie, Smizz, Lacin and Julie
