MWD

Medicine Without Doctors officially launched its new Wellcome Trust-funded programme in Edinburgh on 5 May 2026. The event brought together researchers, activists, healthcare professionals, artists, and community partners for a day of interactive activities exploring the future of healthcare, care systems, and voice.

Held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, the launch event introduced the project’s vision of “reimagining care and voice through play” through immersive workshops, creative installations, interactive case studies, and playful research as a methodological anchor. The evening was further enriched by collaborative discussions and live activist monologues performances at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar.

Throughout the day, participants engaged in playful research and interactive activities designed to encourage discussion and reflection around healthcare, identity, and medical practice. The project explores four key areas shaping the changing landscape of medicine: abortion care, LGBTQ+ health activism, artificial intelligence, and physician associates. Throughout our project, we are asking whose voices will be or need to be heard and how we move towards healthcare that is inclusive for all.  

In the Abortion Care room, participants explored the structures, barriers, and processes involved in accessing abortion care globally, taking on the role of a pregnant person navigating abortion services in different contexts.In the Artificial Intelligence room, attendees took part in a roleplaying roulette game designed to encourage participants to “step into the shoes of another” while exploring how AI development and regulation can better reflect the expertise and needs of marginalised and underrepresented voices.

In the Artificial Intelligence room, attendees took part in a roleplaying roulette game designed to encourage participants to “step into the shoes of another” while exploring how AI development and regulation can better reflect the expertise and needs of marginalised and underrepresented voices.

The Physician Associate room featured a model line-up of professional roles within a hospital setting, inviting participants to examine relationships between different NHS roles and how care is delivered collaboratively within medical spaces.

The LGBTQ+ Health Activism room immersed participants in community stories, activist resources, music, creative workshops, and participatory installations, including opportunities to listen to LGBTQ+ activist voices, explore community archives, contribute postcards and protest artworks, and reflect on what queer care and inclusive healthcare futures could look like.

A central feature connecting all case study rooms was the project’s “Playful Research” methodological approach. Rather than using play only to collect research data, Medicine Without Doctors uses playful, creative, and collaborative methods to explore healthcare futures. Through roleplay, storytelling, discussion, sound, and interactive activities, participants were encouraged to share experiences, challenge hierarchies, and imagine more inclusive forms of care.

The launch event also marked the of ongoing collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, The Love Tank, Andthen, advisory board members, colleagues, and participants from across healthcare. Over the next five years, the project will continue developing creative, playful, and participatory research approaches to understanding how healthcare systems are transforming and how communities can shape the future of care together.

Keep in touch with us as the project develops. If you would like regular updates on our project please register your details here. You can also keep an eye on our Website, BlueSky and LinkedIn accounts.