We created Future Medical Systems to take part in creating a better, fairer and more healthy future. We have come to learn over the years that this means that we need to shine a light on and address systemic injustice in health care delivery. Our commitment to inclusivity, social equity and fighting racism is an essential part of this mission. To make this become a reality we have these principles:

 

Core principle:

Raise up under-represented voices in every step of the work that we do, challenging the status quo, seeding societal change and ensuring that our work is inspired by the fullest range of experiences.
 

What we work on:

We seek out and do projects with positive social impact and always look to maximize the positive impact of our work; for example: working with safety net clinics (Federally Qualified Health Centers) to help improve the health of underserved and marginalized populations, creating new models of access to fundamental health services for vulnerable and diverse people, community mural projects with youth, and leading public health departments in growing their connections to their community. We provide discounted services to non-profits and projects that focus on improving the lives of diverse and underrepresented communities.
 

How we work:

Recruitment:

we always look to include a diversity of voices and experiences in our research,especially those who are underrepresented and vulnerable, working with our clients to include perspectives that might not have previously been heard.

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Research methods:

We apply a set of principles that empower participants in our research and recognize the possibility of a negative power dynamic that might lead to coercive or extractive research. We train our research teams in trauma-informed processes and practice them routinely.

Co-design and inclusive design: we believe that we are not designing for people, we are designing with them. We know that getting input early and often in creating new ideas is good design practice, and we welcome the insights that come with the lived experience of minority groups in shaping and improving new concepts.
 

Building a better design company:

We have an ongoing commitment to anti-racism and social equity, including continual and regular discussions about our progress and activity in social equity activities

 

In all of our activities, we seek to partner with organizations that share these values and are also looking to challenge the status quo of today’s healthcare systems.
 

Land Acknowledgement:

Future Medical Systems recognizes that our places of work in the United States (specifically Sunnyvale and Napa, CA and Richmond, VA) sit on the ancestral territories of Indigenous people.

 

We acknowledge the genocide and systems of oppression that have dispossessed Indigenous people of their lands and created ongoing systemic oppression especially in health outcomes. We honor and respect the diverse peoples still connected to this land.

We recognize that we, and our clients, benefit from the use and occupation of this land and that we have a moral obligation to acknowledge this fact as part of our society’s journey towards the recognition of both historical and ongoing injustices.