OVERHEAR

Healthcare

Maps that invite people to walk. Get-well messages from family. Art and heritage that support recovery and mental health — in use at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.

Enquire about a project How it works

How it works

Pin poems, stories, and heritage to a hospital map — corridors, galleries, and grounds.

Patients, visitors, and staff walk to collect audio as part of daily recovery activity.

Family leave private get-well messages for loved ones to find along the way.

Maps that move people

Geolocated and QR pins turn wards, galleries, and outdoor paths into collectable audio trails. Walking to unlock the next story encourages mobility — a practical response to hospital-acquired deconditioning, often called pyjama paralysis.

Get-well messages on walks

Friends and family record private messages of support and pin them to places patients can reach. Collecting a message becomes a reason to get out of bed, take a step, and feel connected beyond the clinical day.

Art, heritage & mental health

Pin-a-Poem workshops, oral histories, and arts-in-health trails give patients and staff shared stories to listen to. At Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, The People’s Gallery trail preserves over a century of local NHS history while supporting wellbeing and belonging.

Photo: Birmingham Children's Hospital — Thomas Nugent / geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Audio that moves people — emotionally and physically

Healthcare spaces hold real stories of patients, staff, places, and communities. OVERHEAR pins those voices to the map so listening becomes a walk: recovery activity, family connection, and arts in health in one experience. At Midland Metropolitan University Hospital that looks like heritage oral histories in The People’s Gallery and creative workshops with stroke and rehab patients.

Collecting location-based audio on a hospital walk

Perfect For

Recovery walks

Encourage patients to explore wards and grounds while collecting poems and peer stories.

Family support

Private get-well messages left in place — collected on foot by the person who needs them.

Mental health & arts

Outdoor listening, reflection, and creative workshops without requiring face-to-face conversation.

Heritage trails

Oral histories of staff, patients, and neighbourhoods — a living layer beside galleries and charities.

Rehab & stroke programmes

Pin-a-Poem and story sessions that mark small victories and rebuild confidence through voice.

NHS charities & trusts

Arts-in-health programmes seeking place-based audio that patients, visitors, and communities can share.

Bring OVERHEAR into your hospital

Whether you are shaping a recovery walk, a family messaging programme, or a heritage trail like The People’s Gallery, we would love to hear from you. Enquire about a project, or download the app and explore how location-based audio moves people.