Helping Hands
Alexander Glover
I chose to photograph a scene exploring the idea that after a long stay in hospital, people easily became institutionalized, leading to difficulty when planning for discharge. I wanted the image to represent a person who has been in hospital for a long period of time – following a fall or stroke perhaps – and wanted to show ‘helping hands’ aiding her with her self-care and feeding. I avoided showing her body as I wanted it to appear like she has no need for it anymore as these helping hands are doing it all for her. It appears that in the long run, these faceless hands are doing quite the opposite of what they intended to do and are not helping but rather hindering her independence and her ability to look after herself at home. My experience showed me that this was a big problem for the rehabilitation teams. There would come a time where the medical staff have fulfilled their roles and the therapists would take over but in the interim period the patients would often find themselves in the situation depicted above having everything done for them and becoming thoroughly bored as a result. The creative process was rather enjoyable, utilizing several of my housemates’ hands and props from throughout the house.
Whole Person Care
I agree with the statements you made in your reflection, the patient in the picture clearly doesn’t look happy, and even looks stifled and oppressed by the surrounding hands. I think you have captured this common phenomenon exceedingly delicately yet accurately. Although this may not be the case for all patients, I believe more attention should be paid to the individual qualities and personality traits of the patient to assess what kind of support they need, or even want. It should be realised that perhaps what a hegemonous society views as support could have very different impacts on the diverse and huge population, which in some cases may need more consideration.
I totally agree with the reflection and indeed in the long run this makes the patient feel boredom and the lack of self confidence to do her own work. The level of care that she’s receiving may not be up to the level that she’s expecting, hence she must be suffering form the bottom of her mind. What I feel is that she has lost her independence and been framed into a small area where she could literally do nothing. This case could be seen in most of the cases in palliative care and disablement, although it might be not in the same level as shown in the picture. The picture shows one of the extremes. The patient doesn’t look happy because she doesn’t receive the care the way she wants it. She could be in a mental position where she thinks “what’s the point in living like this?” which does bring a lot of stress into her life. What I believe is that more attention should be paid and then providing the level of care according to their best interests.
I agree with you comments on your work. I love the image. The image is thought provoking concerning the loss of independence and the idea of ‘self’ an individual may encounter after long, invasive treatment. The daily tasks, shown by the hands, which the indivdual can no longer do for themselves almost show a second childhood state, this is usually old age, however, for the patient this is premature. The expressionless face, is that of a patient contemplating this second childhood, we are not sure whether they’ll ever be able to reach a level of acceptance, and become in control of there illness who whether it will continue to have a hold on them, leaving them almose helpless.
This struck me as it highlighted an aspect of a patient’s care that is very easy to forget about, very often the aim is to get the patient out of hospital meaning it is easy to assume that once a patient is out of hospital, the problem is fixed and over with when in fact, as the photograph highlights, this is certainly not the case in many instances.
This artwork really captures how invasive treatment can be, it is almost as if all these hands are clambering all over the patient. It is little wonder that she stares ahead vacantly, not engaging with her carers at all. It works as a graphic illustration of the importance of having eye contact and engaging with the patient as a person. At a deeper level, it shows the danger that doing too much for the patient encourages dependency and helplessness which can lead to a lack of self-esteem.
I really like the ideas behind this image and think its very good at showing the importance of making sure a patient doesn’t become to dependent when they are receiving care so that they can be discharged earlier as they will be able to deal with their new disability on their own. I particularly like this image because of my time spent as a HCA in a nursing home where we were encouraged to promote independence so that their standard of living was increased.
I found this image really striking – the distanced expression on the person’s face represents for me the acceptance of the person that everything should and will be done for her so there’s no need for her to engage in any of these tasks. It’s important to remember that part of the care provided by doctors should involve preparing patients for life outside of a hospital setting so ensuing that they don’t get too reliant on “helping hands”. For a patient to truly get better and successfully move on with their lives they need to be independent, or at least put effort into looking after themselves.
I feel that this photo really focuses on a part of care that is often overlooked in the world of a busy doctor but that is an all too common site for nurses and HCAs. It reminds me of the importance of promoting independence, which was, for good reason, a huge part of my HCA work in care homes. Adjusting to big lifestyle changes can be massively overwhelming for patients and it is so easy to slip into a routine where they become reliant on other people to do the things they could manage individually before, this can be frustrating for many patience and I feel this image really captures the want of the patient to de it all for themselves again.
I found this image really eye-catching because of how vacant and expressionless the patient looks. She looks completely disengaged from what is happening around her which makes it seem like she has given up on trying to do things independently. It highlights that while healthcare professionals should obviously help patients when they struggle doing things themselves, a big part of their role should also be to help patients to develop the confidence to do things independently again. They should also try to help patients retain their sense of self by reminding them that their hospital stay is only temporary and preparing them for their return to normal life.
I completely agree with your reflection on this work – the picture is striking in itself and the meaning even more so. The vacant expression of the patient really emphasises the dehumanisation a long-term hospital stay can elicit and the degree to which basic self-management can be stripped away in a medical-environment. I feel as if this goes to show how the devotion of medical staff in their need to help their patients has the potential to go overboard by stripping away the patient’s independence.
I really like the focus on the menial, everyday tasks that people often take for granted, that clearly the patient cannot carry out themselves. The lost expression on the patient’s face is particularly emotive as it encompasses the feeling of possible emptiness or uselessness patients may feel when staying in hospital for a long period of time, and I think this artwork does an excellent job at emphasising the importance of rehabilitative care in hospitals, in order to allow a smoother transition out of possible, and allow people to return to their normal, everyday lives as much as possible.
This piece inspired me most because it resonates with my time volunteering in a hospital, particularly the stroke unit, where I witnessed patients face the debilitating consequences of a stroke. It was there I could see the harsh nature of one losing their sense of independence, hence making patients feel overwhelmed which the image does a good job in portraying with the swarm of hands trapping and inhibiting her movement. The privilege of being able to brush your teeth, pick up a cup of tea, or using your knife and fork to cut food we take for granted highlights how almost surreal the experience is for a patient having to suddenly depend on others. Furthermore the anonymity of the hands portray the overall disconnect between patients and the professional team; having to put faith and trust into ultimately a stranger creates that loss of personal touch. Whilst her physical needs may be met, she seems to be affected mentally hence the blank facial expression. This depicts the conflict between the medical standards of professionalism and the patients emotional requirements in order to cope with long term hospitalisation.
The patient’s emotionless expression highlighted how monotonous and boring the routine is for her. I also really like the use of grey-scale here because it emphasises how cold, clinical and lacking in human-warmth hospital environment is. I agree with the statement you made in the reflection, because sometimes healthcare staff are not seen as people, but as parts in the system working through a regular routine, as suggested by the faceless hands in the photo.
Judging by the facial expressions of the patient, it seems as if the routine is becoming very common for her yet is still something which she is scared by. The grayscale of the image also shows the lack of warmth in the hospital environment.
I found this piece to be particularly reflective on the one of the many problems with patients who have extensive stays in hospital or care setting. It is a widely recognized problem that patients can become deskilled and lose their independence when tasks are completed for them. This is a particular issue which results in the need for increased packages of care. Despite being a known issue, the temptation to save time in the short term creates a false economy.