{"id":2065,"date":"2026-05-05T18:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/everydaycyborgs\/?p=2065"},"modified":"2026-05-05T18:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:08:34","slug":"what-if-life-critical-medical-technology-was-treated-as-a-shared-resource","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/everydaycyborgs\/2026\/05\/05\/what-if-life-critical-medical-technology-was-treated-as-a-shared-resource\/","title":{"rendered":"What if life-critical medical technology was treated as a shared resource?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Based on O’Donnell, S. & Quigley, M ‘Transformations in Diabetes Care: Lessons From Commons-Based, Peer-Produced Citizen Science<\/a><\/em>‘ in Sociology of Health & Illness<\/em> (2026) 48(2): e70140.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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What if life-critical medical technology was treated as a shared resource\u2014created and collectively governed by the patients who rely on it? In an article, recently published in Sociology of Health and Illness, we explore this very question, drawing on our research of the #<\/span>WeAreNotWaiting<\/a> movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over a decade, this self-organized community of people with diabetes has co-created medical software that is not only life-critical but often more responsive to patient needs than the offerings of leading medical device companies.
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The Healthcare Commons<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Drawing on the work of David Bollier<\/a> and Silke Helfrich, we argue that #<\/span>WeAreNotWaiting<\/a> offers a blueprint for the practice of commoning in healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ‘commons’ emerges when a community comes together to co-create and manage a resource essential for their survival, often as a response to structural failures within markets and state institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, the movement was born from the inability of the medical device industry to prioritize the daily, lived reality of those with type 1 diabetes over proprietary interests and slow-moving regulatory cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An Alternative Innovation Ecosystem<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our research describes how the movement built a successful alternative by adopting pro-social behaviors such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n