Anyone else read this? While there are still a lot of questions, the overall idea of stepping away from medication and into immersive environments as less invasive solutions is incredibly beautiful. I'd be really interested to see some data on success rates for those who were kept on best rest versus the active approach taken here. The focus seemed to be more on stimulation and sensory engagement. My mind started to drift into ways we could use technology not to change this process, but make it richer. Not going to lie, got emotional at that clip of “Helga Mathijssen-Maas, a care giver, dancing with Ietje Geelen to songs from the Dutch music director Andre Rieu in her room at the Vitalis Peppelrode care facility.” It got me thinking about ways we help patients/peoples experience these moments better. Maybe its a project involving DSP or spatial sound? I don’t really have the answer, just found it inspiring. Also very into that robotic seal! Wondering what others think.
Hm... if true, this is both great and scary. The reasons it could be good are covered in the article. I wonder if anyone else can see how dangerous this could also be. Medical research is beautiful but can often be very dark. I would hope there are regulations on usage. Always a shame to see promising research be sold to big Pharma or any other business that doesn't put patient care first.
Feel this could be a system that is 1. Not accessible to all 2. Not affordable 3. Could lead to contraindications with other techniques and systems if not implemented properly. I’m optimistic but have also worked in healthcare long enough to understand that these things happen.
Can you elaborate on the dangerous/dark nature of this? Big Pharma does a lot of things wrong, but at the same time private enterprise (big pharma in this case) can be a very effective vehicle for making medical breakthroughs scale to become available to patients.
Absolutely. Speaking with only the knowledge I’ve gained from working at a department that deals with blood banking for a well known university I’d say a lot of outcomes have to do with agendas. No system is perfect and you’re right- there has been a lot of good. My fear is that more “credible” research will be done to “prove” that patients need more medication. I’m not saying don’t take meds if you need them but in many cases they are not needed and can actually be really harmful. All I’m saying is that it can improve life for some it can also reduce quality of life for others.
Obviously this situation is very confusing. Seems like an honest mistake. On the plus side, really love the sense of community this has created. Best of luck to those moving forward. Whether accepted or auditing this will be a huge learning opportunity.
