‘Word Clouds’ comfort families and doctors of dying patients
To humanize the intensive care unit and comfort families of the dying, Canadian doctors have found a way to elicit happier memories at the bedside
They’re creating Word Clouds – and they say the practice is valuable for them, too, because it helps them forge their own bonds with patients.
Staff members in the ICU of St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario say the process is an economical way to alleviate a stressful time. They have incorporated Word Cloud creation into regular practice and recently studied its impact.
“It was surprisingly meaningful,” said Dr. Meredith Vanstone, an assistant professor of family medicine at McMaster University. She and her colleagues interviewed 37 relatives and 73 healthcare providers of 42 dying patients who were Word Cloud subjects. continua a leggere
