To many people in society today, including myself, the Doctor's office can arguably be one of the most never racking places to walk into. After filling out an information form that asks for every single detail of your life, a procedure follows that either hurts, is uncomfortable, or makes you feel gross for the rest of the day. When I saw the title of this article I wondered how Pocahontas or any Disney character could possibly resemble anything to do with the Doctor's office. After thinking about how my Pediatrics office was organized, I noticed many Disney characters were on the wall and the Lion King was on the 12 inch TV in the waiting room. The Doctor wanted all the young patients to be as comfortable as possible. My Doctor knew his patients were nervous and did anything in his power to make their time at his office enjoyable.
The speech seen in this article is common language and how that helps close the gap between Doctors and different races seen in the office. If a patient cannot communicate with their Doctor, that relationship will never last and that patient will move to a new doctor with better communication skills. Even the smallest of actions done by a Doctor can send a negative message to a new patient and it all starts with language. Mattingly hints on how Disney characters, such as Pocahontas, are seen in the same light by all different races. This "common ground" is used all the time in the Doctors office to make that important relationship needed to make patients comfortable.
The Youtube video I selected shows a girl facing her fear of getting a shot in her arm. For many young children having to get a shot taken is the worst thing ever. I personally did not like the feeling after it was done because your arm is sore for the rest of the day. In this video the sister of the patient seems more worried than the actual patient. During class the topic of how after a shot my bandaids have some sort of Disney or cartoon character on them to make the child feel better. In this video the Nurse feels the girl is old enough to get a plain white bandaid. She even asks if the bandaid is "Hello Kitty." I think the funniest part is when she is screaming with a smile on her face while the nurse administers the shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UTMcgHScXA
As a child I remember going through the same excruciating pain as the girl in this video, and in the end I was excited as ever just to leave with a Pocahontas bandage to cover up my battle scar. As a child, I distinctly remember my mother referring to Pocahontas while I got a shot to tell me that I need to be as brave as her, which also helped me to not hold such a negative image of the doctor's office.
ReplyDeleteWith doctors not being able to have a lot of time to learn about a child/patient and relate to them, they bring in the most common theme they can think of, Disney, to make the doctor's office more bearable. The girl in this video acts like a typical patient would when told they have to get a shot, and it shows exactly why doctors use disney characters as a channel of communication for their patients. In this video the girl is extremely nervous through the whole process of getting a shot and is still worked up after the shot is finished, until the point where she says, "Oooh is it Hello Kitty?" After she asks that question it's as if she never even got a shot. While Hello Kitty is not a Disney character it is a parallel for a popular cartoon icon to children. This method has worked for years and I don't see it changing anytime soon.
I still hate shoots to this day and I wish I had something to distract me from the pain/shoot itself. The article does hit on how language is used to help communicate between two very different people (child and doctor). But when I think of my times in the doctors office as a kid I don't really remember my doctor using this communication to help he more or less used the characters as a distraction from the nervousness of being in the doctors office. Maybe because I was a boy but when my doctor spoke to me he often talked about the sports I played it was like he wanted to build a relationship with me and he always asked me how I was doing or told me good luck after I left. The only time Disney Characters were used is after a shoot or something that did needed a bandage and they let me pick out what I wanted to help me forget about the stress/pain. Which does hit back to the article but I think it hits closer to the video.
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