MODULE 1. INTRODUCTION
1.2 Connecting learners
Some people like to learn alone, others find learning together is more interesting. This course is designed to be used in either way. If you are studying this online alongside a cohort of students working on it over the same time period there are opportunities to interact with other students, ask questions, exchange information or propose a ‘flash debate’ about a recent news story.
Whether you are learning on your own or in a group please contribute to the ‘comments’ section at the end of each unit. A wide range of people are doing this course, with lots of different experiences and perspectives to bring to the discussion. It’s always interesting to see how other people have responded to the materials or the ideas they have to share. You can also share comment on twitter #PDoCMediaWatch
Note: Before starting this course please be aware that it covers some difficult and challenging issues. Although the focus is on media representation the course necessarily addresses the realities of family experience, it also deals with some complex ethical issues such as end-of-life decision-making. Seek support if you find some of the materials distressing. Be kind to yourself. When engaging with other students also please be respectful of different feelings and opinions.
Who is doing this course? Complete the poll below and find out.
Activity 1 – Introduce yourself and have a look at who else is doing the course
Please introduce yourself and tell us what interested you about doing this course by adding a comment in the section at the very bottom of this page. (Scroll down to the very bottom)
Additional Note: some healthcare professionals who have introduced themselves explain they work with ‘PDoC‘ patients – for anyone not familiar with that acronym it stands for ‘Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness” an umbrella term for coma, the vegetative and minimally conscious state.
Activity 2, optional…but recommended that you try this (unless you have direct experience of caring for someone in a vegetative state)
Just for yourself (you don’t have to share this!) do a sketch of how you imagine a patient in a permanent vegetative state. Don’t think too hard about this task – just give it a go! Try to include as much detail as possible. This isn’t a test of artistic ability, feel free to label parts of the picture to make things clear. Keep the picture safe (or photograph it on your mobile phone). You’ll be returning to it later to reflect on what might have shaped your own mental images of the vegetative state.
Tell us what interested you about doing this course by adding a comment in the section at the very bottom of this page. Also you might want to share your most recent or vivid memory of a media story about someone in a vegetative state.
Now mark this unit as ‘complete’ and move on to the next one.
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Hi, I’m Althea from Arizona, USA. I am an independent patient advocate focusing on end-of-life issues. I mediate family disputes and help people tie up the lose ends in their life so they can have a peaceful death.
Hi, My name is Charlotte. I’m a second-year nursing student at Cardiff University. I first experienced working with PDoC patients during a placement last year in which I was caring and supporting patients receiving neurological rehabilitation. During my time I met several PDoC patients and their families and found Jenny’s previous course extremely useful in how best to support them. I have a keen interest in this area and these patients and hope to work with them post-qualifying.
I’m a speech and Language Therapist working in the community and acute setting.
I work with people in disordered states of consciousness from the very acute stage through to the community living at home or in a care facility.
I’m working as an Occupational Therapist in a Neuro-rehab inpatient setting. Some of my work involves working with patients in a prolonged disorder of consciousness and I’m involved in assessments around this. I’m trying to increase my knowledge of this client group, and particularly the experiences of the affected persons family and friends in order to support them the best way I can.
Hi, I´m Luciana Dadalto, from Brazil. I´m a lawyer and a PHD professor and my researches ar focus in end of life themes. I´m trying to increase my knowledge about coma and vegetative state, because I believe that this will make me a better researcher.
Hello! My name is Valquiria and I’m from Peru. I’m an instructor for journalism students, and as a researcher I’m interested in media representations of people with disabilities. I found this course particularly interesting since the covid-19 pandemic is highlighting many health-related conditions in the public agenda and PDoC are some of those. I would like my students and my journalist colleagues to have a better understanding of these issues; and I would like to take notes on how to academically explore this area. Thank you for this opportunity!
Hi all. I am Shubhangi, going into my third year of university. I am pursuing Journalism, Communications and Politics at Cardiff University. I took this course as I wanted to explore other aspects of media that I have not thought of before. Covid 19 has certainly impacted my decision in taking this course particularly.
Hi, my name is Luke. I am a Senior Critical Care Physiotherapist and researcher, I have a research interest in Devastating Brain Injuries (DBI) for which I am currently engaged with investigative work.
I’m a Speech and Language Therapist working in a community brain injury rehab setting, occasionally involved in the assessment and rehab of patients in PDoC. It’s not an area I have lots of experience in, but want to expand my knowledge and feel more confident with this group of people and their families, and understand more about how the general public might perceive PDoC.
Hi, my name is Anna (arriving a little late!). I am a part time PhD student with ESRC funding. My research looks at how humanitarian photography is currently being produced and shared about the so called ‘Refugee crisis’ in northern France. I was interested in this course to engage with discourse around media portrayal and imagery used more generally. I am also teaching journalism and photography students and feel this is an important area to think critically around and learn how to discuss and share.
I’m Merryn Rodwell a third year media and communications student at Cardiff University. I am taking this course in order to enhance my knowledge around the depitction of the comatic and vegetitive state in the media. I hope this will in-turn lend itself to my wider still set when hopefully going into a career that requires me to understand the symbiotic relationship all aspects of the media have with political, health and moral issues.
Hi, everyone! I’m Juliana, a law student willing to know more about themes that deal with health, dignity and end of life issues, to be a good professional and a better human being.
Hello! My name is Amy and I am a MRes Clinical Psychology student at the University of Birmingham (UK). I am currently completing my MRes thesis investigating the impact of PDoC on family members and have found the CDoC courses extremely valuable for helping my understanding this clinical area.
Hello! My name is Liliana Teixeira, I am an Occupational Therapist and a Professor at a University in Portugal. I am currently doing research about PDOC, the assessment, treatment, importance of families in these rehabilitation stages and some ethical challenges we face when working with PDOC.
Hello, my name is Alison Knight I am an occupational therapist,working in a neuro rehab setting, with a special interest in Pdoc. As a clinical lead for this area it is important to ensure i understand the wider complexities and challenges with the patients, family and carers, to support insight to thier perspectives and expectations, in addition to educating others.
Hello, I’m a teacher in London who works with students with profound and multiple learning difficulties. I am also halfway through writing a novel about somebody who is in a vegetative state but eventually makes small steps of recovery in order to learn to communicate again. I was drawn to this course as part of my research for the novel, to see the effects of how this subject is portrayed in the media and how to approach writing about sensitive issues including ethics and family experience. I am really looking forward to learning more and enhancing my knowledge on this subject.