Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.
And eyes, and ears, and mouth,
And nose.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4eueDYPTIg
A nursery rhyme that is familiar and nostalgic from deep down under your consciousness. By already reading the lyrics, you hear the melody of the rhyme lingering behind your thought as if it was meant to be. Just like the song we have everything BUT… is it meant to be, to be bound to a wheelchair from birth, to breath but have no dreams, to be able to listen but unable to speak, have limbs like the song but have no function, see but only stare and only eat to survive. Does this song really apply to children that needs the most?
As a student physiotherapist who worked with young children that are blind, deaf, functionally impaired and have intellectual disabilities; I felt that this rhyme tormented me inside. As one of the helpers started singing this nursery rhyme to the children, I unconsciously joined into the melody and sang along with the helper. After the rhyme ended, I sat down and eventually realized that this was the only thing I could do. I was in shock of how I could not do anything for them. It was as if we were all waiting for a miracle to happen. Maintaining the children was the only thing we could do. The children did not have hope, the parents didn’t have hope and I didn’t have hope for them. Doctors aren’t able to cure them, technology is advancing but will it advance soon enough, parents are financially in need and will they able to have a long. happy. life?
Maintaining the children felt as if it was just torture, prolonging their unfair life without any hope for them. We as a medical professional must not give-up on our patients, but if there is no other way to help the patient to get better, do we give false hope, do we drive them to believe that there is a happy ending or do we become cold hearted and tell them that their is nothing we can do. What is right and what is wrong for the children. OR is it ethical to say nothing with no hope. An article called “Are physiotherapists comfortable with person-centred practice? An autoethnographic insight” by Suzie Mudge, Caroline Stretton and Nicola Kayesfound out that their samples of participants indicated that they feared patients to have hope and high expectations. They understood that they have limitations to their treatment and rather giving individual false hope, they would be honest about the situation. As it will give unrealistic goal and disappointment which they believe that it is a unprofessional behaviour. They recognized hope to be important but believed is a criteria that is not valuable enough to think explicitly. In addition, they believed that hope is something to keep and a physiotherapist must be a carrier of hope but be honest to the patient.
Empathy is something that affects any medical profession and it is up to individual on how to address the situation. At the time when I lost hope, I failed to act as a service provider as it affected my work rate. It was not ethical to choose their fate by my assumptions. They need me at the moment and I should give my 111% for each individual. I learnt that I need to be honest and be professional with my behaviour but to strive on the question “What we could do?” which is the hope we need to strive for individually. Life is unfair, like the rhyme is targeted to people that are “normal” but we as a medical professionals can strive to break the concept of “normal” by changing the perspective of people. Never again will I lose hope and strive to find a glimpse of light in the darkness.
“Believe in truth. Believe in justice. Believe in the hope for their greatness. And if, through your actions they yearn to be great, too, then you will have done far more for them by making all their burdens your own. Do not fear to help them where they need help, but do not impose yourself on them. Gods can become devils far too quickly. Reliance on your own powers will destroy them. Belief in your values will give them strength.” – Superman –
REFERENCES
SCOPE. (2017, December 17). Hope and faith are powerful medicine – Scope. Retrieved from http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2013/12/17/hope-and-faith-are-powerful-medicine/
Overallmotivation. (2018, January 2). Inspirational Superman Quotes About Hope & Dreams | OverallMotivation. Retrieved from https://www.overallmotivation.com/quotes/inspirational-superman-quotes-hope-dreams/
Mudge, S., Stretton, C., & Kayes, N. (2013). Are physiotherapists comfortable with person-centred practice? An autoethnographic insight. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36(6), 457-463.
CHU CHU TV. (2014, April 4). Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes – Exercise Song For Kids[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4eueDYPTIg