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A New Technique Teaches NHS Staff Empathy

golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

I don't know what people will think of this.


The core story is that NHS staff are wearing a specially designed 40 stone fat suit to help them empathise and understand the needs of obese patients.

" They have been told the outfit will help them think about morbidly obese patients ‘in a different way’. "

It also helps staff learn how to operate machinery etc.

I have pondered this all day and think its an excellent idea. I don't think its a waste of a thousand pounds it cost to make the suit....

I think Mindfullness and compassion training might achieve good results too.

One member of staff commented upon the difficulty she felt in the suit when it became hot. How she could not get up from lying down and had difficulty breathing.

How she had difficulty walking.

" Julie Tebb, of the hospital’s moving and handling team, said: ‘I found it quite uncomfortable to be completely flat on my back. It restricts my airways, I find it difficult to breathe.’"

So here is why I am posting...

Why not have an M.E. C.F.S. SUIT ?

to help staff empathise and understand?

Could this be a fantastic learning tool?

Whether or not such a thing would ever happen, this obese suit in itself sows the seeds of empathy for the obese which can then be transferred to other patients later on.

Golden :)
 
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golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
How to build an M.E. suit.

1) Digital glasses . These would simulate disorientation, visual disturbances, cause nausea, perhaps have brighter light causing the eyes to strain.

2) Earphones with tinnitus sounds on.

3) If the suit could look thin but be heavy to represent muscle fatigue.

Staff could undergo C.B.T. and successfully practice it whilst the suit/glasses/ear piece adjusted and made worse the symptoms.

All symptoms should change and fluctuate seemingly randomly with periods of 'normalcy before they start again.

It actually sounds too cruel! Now I have thought it through.
 

Waverunner

Senior Member
Messages
1,079
Just imagine how CBT would go.

Doctor: So what is your problem?
Patient: Well, I have this stupid suit/illness.
Doctor: I understand. What about your childhood and your parents?
Patient: Sir, with all due respect, could you please remove this stupid suit/illness, that's all I want.
Doctor: You see, that' your problem, you focus on the bad things.
Patient: Would you like to have this suit/illness?
Doctor: There is no suit/illness, you're making this up.
Patient: I'm sitting in front of you, are you blind?
Doctor: We need a lot more therapy sessions.

The world is a madhouse...
 
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taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
How to build an M.E. suit.

1) Digital glasses . These would simulate disorientation, visual disturbances, cause nausea, perhaps have brighter light causing the eyes to strain.

2) Earphones with tinnitus sounds on.

3) If the suit could look thin but be heavy to represent muscle fatigue.

Staff could undergo C.B.T. and successfully practice it whilst the suit/glasses/ear piece adjusted and made worse the symptoms.

All symptoms should change and fluctuate seemingly randomly with periods of 'normalcy before they start again.

It actually sounds too cruel! Now I have thought it through.

That sounds a great idea to me.

And they should wear shoes with very weighted soles for the tired heavy leg feel but also with one sole higher then the other to add to stimulating balance issues while walking. Then make then drink 3 Litres a day of heaps electrolite formula to stimulate a POTS patient who is having to get up and go back and forth to the loo a lot. Of cause they need to do that in their weighted suits.

These suits could be multi purpose.. the governments could also use them to torture terrorists for info.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
Hit them over the head with a cricket bat so they have a headache and brain fog.
Simon wessley is to do the empathy training and then exercise the headache away. Hehehe
I will make a note that this is a joke just so its not reguarded as a threat.
 

golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
So, this idea has caught on.

I read today that 'All staff at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, from porters to consultants , are to be given time in an AGEING SUIT '

This ageing suit will give staff insight.

It is equipped with:

1)Ear defenders - to simulate hard of hearing

2) Goggles - simulate cataracts and reduced vision

3) Neck brace - reduces head mobility

4) Vest - Full of weights restricting movement and causes slouching

5) Vibrating gloves - causes hands to shake

6) Leg Splints - restrict knee to stimulate joint stiffness

7) Oversized shoes contain weights to cause shuffling.

:)
 

peggy-sue

Senior Member
Messages
2,623
Location
Scotland
I agree, it's a brilliant idea.
Being overweight is really uncomfortable and difficult.

I was three stones heavier than I am now.

I couldn't lie on my tummy in bed, which is how I like to sleep. My guts got in the way.

It was difficult to reach to wipe my bum after I'd been to the loo.

I couldn't get my arms comfily close to my body - the fat got in the way.
It got in the way of my trying to reach things or do things.
It made cooking harder. I had to reach past my body to get to the sink or worktop.

Even sitting was difficult, with really thick thighs pushing my legs into uncomfortable positions.
Everything was difficult and uncomfortable.
 

golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
e Sorry to read of your difficulties PS. To be honest, I don't fully empathise with all symptoms either. And some things I haven't give much or any thought to.



Just for thread clarity - as my post didn't explain correctly...

There are now two different types of suits being employed.

The first was a fat suit...

And this latest one is an Ageing suit to help staff empathise with the elderly...

Although further applications have included Parkinsons Disease, dementia.

They also think members of the public should wear them to 'help all of us understand how it feels'

Anyone going to buy one for a family member ha ha :)
 

peggy-sue

Senior Member
Messages
2,623
Location
Scotland
I lost the weight, Golden. :)
I'd put 3 stones (42lbs) on when I went on citalopram, my BMI was approaching 30.
I was just at the point of going from "overweight" into "obese".

(remembering the BMI is only vague, I still find it a useful guide)

But I wasn't used to it, so some of the practical physical difficulties were surprising me - such as it being difficult to wipe my bum. Things I'd never given a thought to before.

(and it used up loads of precious energy carrying it everywhere, that went without saying)

Just bring on the ME suit!
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I lost the weight, Golden. :)
I'd put 3 stones (42lbs) on when I went on citalopram, my BMI was approaching 30.
I was just at the point of going from "overweight" into "obese".

(remembering the BMI is only vague, I still find it a useful guide)

But I wasn't used to it, so some of the practical physical difficulties were surprising me - such as it being difficult to wipe my bum. Things I'd never given a thought to before.

(and it used up loads of precious energy carrying it everywhere, that went without saying)

Just bring on the ME suit!

I reached the borderline obese stage about 14 years ago. It horrified me, and yes, it was damned uncomfortable. It became especially so in the chest area. If I wore a bra it cut into my flesh and hurt my back and shoulders. If I didn't, the chest itself ached like hell. I actually had to start wearing a bra in bed because otherwise the pain wouldn't let me sleep.

I am now back to normal weight. Low-carb, I love you.:love:
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
Just reading the title I thought it was about teaching NHS staff to be empathic generally.

Which would have been nice.

Yes indeed. What I don't understand though is that I don't have to sleep on the streets to empathise with the homeless, or go on a fast to empathise with the starving, or dye my skin to empathise with the victims of racism, etc.

As a borderline Aspie, should I be this empathic? (Although I think that the 'lack of empathy' sometimes claimed in respect of autism is now disputed. Psychopaths, on the other hand, do lack empathy, as do people who have taken coke, I think.)

Still, if these suits help other people, bring 'em on!