Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield and colleagues at Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), Brighton and Sussex Medical School (run jointly by the Universities of Brighton and Sussex), developed the stickers in response to a request from Prof Dame Fallowfield’s daughter, Carrie Reeve, who is a Community Children’s Nurse Specialist in Surrey.
Carrie looks after seriously ill and chronically sick children, and was worried that not only might her face mask and visor frighten some of the children but that they could not see her usual smiley or empathic face when they felt sad.
Prof Dame Fallowfield and the SHORE-C team have vast experience in developing, running and evaluating educational programmes for healthcare professionals to help them communicate sad and difficult things with patients. Professor Dame Fallowfield said: “Research shows that it isn’t just the words one uses that matters – facial expressions and non-verbal communication are really important and can be very difficult to achieve when wearing PPE.” The SHORE-C team created a series of ‘memojis’ which Carrie can stick to her mask or visor as a communication aid.
Carrie said: “It is so difficult to express the essential non-verbal communication to patients and families while wearing PPE, and verbal communication has its difficulties too. The initial greeting when wearing PPE can be scary for both parents and children, so to then perform a painful procedure or one that requires trust can be very challenging.”