My creative piece is inspired by a patient I met during an online placement in general practice. Tom* had previously had extensive surgery with complications and now has a colostomy bag. What really inspired me was his description of how covid-19 has had a massive impact on his life. Tom explained how due to the closure of many public toilets it is very difficult for him to spend much time out without having to go home to change the colostomy bag, which needs to be changed 2-3 times a day. Even without additional public toilets being closed, Tom mentioned how the toilets needed a specific layout with hooks and preferably a surface for him to lay out all of his equipment. I had never really thought about how something like public toilet closure, something that was just a small inconvenience for me, could stop someone else being able to live their life. This got me thinking about the way our society is set up how we have created barriers allowing everyday parts of life, in this case spending longer periods of time away from home, simply impossible for some individuals.

I decided to display my piece in the form of a storyboard as an engaging way to tell the story of the social disability model. I used bright coloured paint and thick black lines to give it a children’s story book appearance. The storyboard follows a narrative in which the world is adapted to wheel-chair users. Since everyone is in wheelchairs there is no need for higher ceilings and so all doors and ceilings are very low. When a train of non-wheel-chair users arrive, they find it very difficult to do everyday tasks due to the disabling low ceilings. Eventually money is raised to invest in hard hats for them, however, they still have more barriers to many aspects of life compared to the wheelchair users. Eventually they realise that they aren’t the problem, and it is effectively the world disabling them and so they begin to campaign for higher ceilings. I thought it was an interesting approach to swap the roles of individuals, as it is usually wheelchair users facing many barriers in society and I thought this might make people identify with it more and understand how it is not the person, but the society we have designed that causes disability. 

I think I learnt about my own lack of knowledge and naivety as I didn’t realise how difficult the structure of our society has made general life for many people with medical conditions or disabilities. I also think that by speaking to Tom I became aware of how privileged I am, something that I have previously taken for granted. Throughout this project I have gained a new perspective of how if we truly want equality – then we need to start by breaking down these barriers to offer people with disabilities or medical conditions that have an impact on everyday life, more independence, choice and control.

*Details and name changed to protect confidentiality