Who Cares? A Resource to help make a scary experience easier

This year, ScotGEM student, Megan Goode looked at creating an example of an information resource for Appendicitis patients and their families. This was based on her project, looking at stories published on Care Opinion by patients with Appendicitis, which you can read more about, and watch the recording Here.

Megan said this about her resource;

"As part of my placement with Care Opinion, I decided to produce a resource aimed at explaining the hospital environment to parents. Having read through multiple stories on the Care Opinion website, there seemed to be a common theme of outstanding care, but some confusion on the various roles and responsibilities of healthcare workers. This gave me the idea to produce a leaflet which could explain the roles of various healthcare workers as well as the main locations within a typical hospital. I decided to tailor the leaflet to parents and carers of children suffering from appendicitis.

Appendicitis is always a worry when children become ill and it can be very daunting as a parent trying to comfort a child, when they do not know what the process is. Although a relatively common surgery, especially in children, it is not a procedure which could be easily described by the general public. This fear of the unknown along with trying to navigate an unfamiliar environment can make an already distressing time even more stressing. Having previously experienced the dread in the pit of your stomach walking through a hospital trying to find the correct department, I wanted to produce something which could make a scary experience slightly easier.

While a leaflet cannot be used in place of good communication, the idea of this resource is to try and put parents at ease and give them more insight into their child’s care."

We asked Megan what she would like to see done with the leaflet she designed, and she said;

“I feel that this leaflet could be a stepping stone for organisations and hospitals to get an idea of how information can be given in a quick and accessible way. I know there are a lot of information leaflets out there. Perhaps an organisation could build on this resource, and even adapt it for patients being treated for different conditions in the long-term.”

You can see Meg's full resource here:  

https://www.careopinion.org.uk/resources/Appendicitis Leaflet.pdf