How are the Medical Space and Processes a love Letter to the Body or not
The Universe Within
Stencil of me with my hands stretched over my head and it looks like I am filled with the universe.
My questions for the new year are:
What if we could remember that ALL bodies, including our own, are good?
How are spaces, practices and processes a love letter to the body or not and how could they be more so?
I have been thinking about this last one a lot in terms of the medical space. Over the last 5 months I have been in many medical spaces, first as an artist and then as a patient. So I have been taking notes and noticing:
What has made me feel welcomed,
Where my differences and ways of being are taken into account, what works for my body and mind, what keeps me in the moment, in my body and in my power.
What takes me out of my body and mind and makes me feel small and like things are being done to me and not with me.
The other day I had a sonagram of my bladder and I went to the new imaging center near me…I noticed lots of ways the space was a love letter to the body, not just the patience but also the workers,
Doors: the front doors were automatic and used a motion sensor. All you needed to do is wave near the sensor and the door would open. This is much easier on wheels than needing to hit a button.
The waiting room seating: they had a variety of seats, some for individual, some wide, some benches for multiple people.
Signage: they had a lot of signage, signage that set expectations of behavior and of how to navigate the space
Imaging table: the image table was very low and easy for me to get on and off
Then I went to a urologist and needed to get on the exam table. Now I am short, 5’1” The doctor asked me to change and be on the table when he got back…I won’t lie, it was a struggle to get up there. It made me feel like there was something wrong with me for not being able to, in my half dressed state, climb up on the table without doing some major acrobatic moves.
In all going to doctors, I also notice all the forms I have to fill out. It really works when I can do them online. For me writing is hard, tiring, overwhelming. But more so sometimes the forms make me feel uncomfortable, as if I am going to be judged, as if there is a right and wrong way to be and none of the questions really ask about what works with my body or my life experience between my body and the built world.
Dear reader: What is your experience in medical spaces? Where are they a love letter to your body that help you thrive and what questions about your body and your life experience would you like to be asked by your health professionals? What do you want them to know about your that seems to be left out of the conversation? Let me know your thoughts.