Physical Touch Research Articles

Medical education too: sexual harassment within the educational context of medicine \u2013 insights of undergraduates

BackgroundAssessment of the presence and characteristics of sexual harassment in academic medicine is a global issue. Only limited international data are available so far.MethodsAim: To assess the extent of sexual harassment and identify the perpetrators in the student population of the medical school of Münster, Germany.A survey was undertaken, using the Medical Women’s International Association sexual harassment questionnaire translated into German. The anonymous online questionnaire was sent as a link to all medical undergraduates at Münster Medical School via a mailing list between 1 October and 30 November 2018. Identifying or potentially identifying data were not collected.Data were analysed by descriptive statistical methods such as categorical variables. Baseline characteristics, e.g. answers by male or female medical students, were correlated with their individual sexual harassment experiences and perpetrator groups by means of univariate analysis.ResultsA total of 2162 medical students were asked to participate, with 623 (28.8%) completing the survey. Sexual harassment is a significant issue among medical students at Münster Medical School with over half (58.9%) of all undergraduates being exposed to sexually harassing behaviour. In total, 31.8% of all participants reported having experienced unwanted physical sexual contact such as unwanted physical touching, with 87.6% of the victims being female. Overall, 41.3% personally experienced verbal sexual harassment of which 87.4% were female. Furthermore, 8.5% of undergraduates faced forced sexual contact such as oral, anal or vaginal penetration, intercourse and rape, with all victims being female. Perpetrators in these cases were mostly male medical superiors (7.0%) and male patients (18.3%). In general, most perpetrators were patients, followed by medical superiors and educators, and less frequently by colleagues.ConclusionsSexual harassment in medical education and the medical workplace is a significant problem in a German medical school. Most students experiencing sexual harassment are females. Female students also experience the more serious forms of sexual harassment more often.

Touch, and the absence of it

Several years ago, a patient asked me if I wanted to know how she first learned she was dying. As a new palliative medicine physician, I braced myself—would it be a story of a blunt delivery, or vague prognostic statements without a clear meaning? Instead, she stared intently at me and said, “My doctors used to check my heart and lungs every visit. They stopped checking. That's how I knew.” I still carry those words with me. How often do we demonstrate that we care simply by touching stethoscope to skin, or cradling a wrist to examine the pulse? What do the absence of those touch points mean? Breaking bad news is tremendously difficult, even when we are able to sit face to face with a patient. We concentrate so much on the words we choose, knowing our words will likely echo well beyond this conversation, and sometimes forget that our non-verbal cues mean just as much. In the midst of a pandemic, safety mandates gowns, gloves, eye protection, and masks that obscure almost every part of us. We feel the loss of our non-verbal tools acutely. We try to convey emotion with our eyes, our tone of voice, with our gloved hands, knowing that a swarm of people in masks and gowns standing over the bed must be disorienting to someone who is already isolated. A few months in, some clinicians start printing photos of their faces and attaching them to their protective gowns so people can see what they look like without all the gear. Families are not allowed to come to the bedside, so tablets are repurposed for video calls. It can be hard to find a way to bridge the silence across telephone updates, or to see the cues in real time—falling tears or a shift in body language—signals that we need to pause and give space for the emotion. Family members plead for an exception to come into the hospital. Don't we understand how important family being at the bedside is? Why can't we make an exception just this once? We wish we could. One consequence of minimising physical contact for safety is that some patients' only touch points might be a set of physical exams, a lab draw, some vital signs. I am reminded of my patient's words. Before COVID-19, families holding vigil at a bedside often expressed surprise when medical providers walked into the room and reached out for the patient's hand, talking directly to them even when they appeared asleep. Families asked, “Do you think they hear us?” Expressions changed when we explained that yes, while they might not absorb every word, they can likely hear the voices in the room and feel physical touch. That we would encourage them to continue talking to them, holding their hands, even in their last moments. So now, when physical touch from loved ones is limited or not present at all, medical staff across the country are trying to provide it through layers of personal protective equipment. Clasping the patient's hand, gripping the tablet so the video call is possible, pointing out the various tubes and lines to family while explaining what's going on. Letting our own tears fall silently underneath the face shields as yet another family says goodbye. Attending team rounds virtually because we can't all safely inhabit the same room. Getting re-fit for N95s because more than 6 months in there still aren't enough supplies and feeling lucky to be fit tested at all. Turning off the news because it is too painful. The effects are cumulative and isolating. Even as we urge people to stay home, avoid crowds, to wear their masks, we too are craving more human contact. We try to create space for connection even though we are exhausted. There are not enough debrief sessions or wellness activities to counteract what we have seen. Even when restrictions ease and more frequent visits are possible, there will never be enough time to grieve. The end comes too quickly, none of it fair. We hold our patients with us, their faces and voices follow us home even though we try our best not to bring sorrow back to our families. Breathing deeply before crossing the threshold, a new mask replacing the fabric one. We leave our shoes at the door, peel the scrubs off into the washing machine, and shower before we feel safe to touch anyone without the layers. I declare no competing interests.

Effects of pseudo physical touch on interpersonal impression and communication: a study with survey methods

Effects of pseudo physical touch on interpersonal impression and communication: a study with survey methods

Patient Perceptions and Satisfaction With Teledermatology During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey-Based Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the practice of dermatology as social distancing guidelines have led to a shift from in-office care to virtual telehealth (teledermatology). We aimed to determine patient satisfaction, perceived barriers, as well as indications for teledermatology appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was sent out via SurveyMonkey's online platform to patients of the George Washington Medical Faculty Associates' Dermatology department who attended telehealth appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of 894 invitations sent, 168 patients completed our survey.The most common reasons for making a telehealth appointment were for a new rash (11.6%), eczema (9.8%), and psoriasis (9.1%). The most common reasons respondents liked telehealth were because of time efficiency (81.1%), not requiring transportation (74.2%), and maintaining social distancing (73.6%). The most common reasons respondents did not like telehealth were due to lack of physical touch (26.8%) and feeling they received an inadequate assessment (15.7%). Very few patients reported that they were unlikely to undertake another telehealth visit (9.94%) or recommend a telehealth visit to others (6.92%). Dermatology patients likely perceive telehealth visits as a convenient and safe method for quality care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of physical touch, inability to provide close inspection and/or procedural intervention can be frustrating for patients and therefore meaningful selection of appropriate cases for telehealth visits can optimize the patient experience. Overall, telemedicine represents an effective and safe vehicle for delivering care especially during a global pandemic. J Drugs Dermatol. 2021;20(2):178-183. doi:10.36849/JDD.5714.

Enhancing Reversible Data Hiding Technique in Encrypted Images

Nowadays, usage of the elevator is very common everywhere in out day to day life. The main aim of elevator is to transport the things like person or goods in fraction of seconds. As it has number of advantages so we prefer to use elevator. But as you know, corona virus is spreading all over the world; it is important and mandatory to take precaution by individual and we are sure our propose system help you out in this. The existing elevators can be used by pressing floor number as per needs. These elevators cannot be used by paralyzed, blind and physically challenged persons. In this paper we proposed voice control to elevator to prevent a physical touch as we all as all types of user can be used it easily. We used Arduino Uno ATmega328P microcontroller, Bluetooth module HC-05 and Motor driver unit with Android application. The speech recognition system provides the communication mechanism between the user and the Arduino based elevator control mechanism. We used of a DC motor for moving the elevator based on the voice/speech commands given by the user from mobile application. Its process the data and the result are generated in form of according to the user choices; that is elevator is moves upside or downside.

Direct patient-to-physician teledermatology: Not a flash in the pan(demic)

Dermatology is a clinical and visual discipline, which makes it the quintessential medical specialty for spot diagnosis and telemedicine. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented worldwide renaissance of teledermatology (TD). It has helped deliver high-quality medical care, while protecting the medical personnel and vulnerable patients from potential infection. Examining a patient from a distance through digital photography has many drawbacks, including lack of physical touch, difficulties in performing full body examinations, and several legal and ethical issues. We summarize have summarized the more common pitfalls and highlight the key aspects of direct patient-to-physician TD. Basic practical advice includes the use of TD for obtaining patient history, examining patient-captured photographs for inflammatory skin disease, and skin cancer screening.

Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Pediatric Palliative Care Team Structures, Services, and Care Delivery.

Objectives: Define the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on pediatric palliative care team structures, communication, and workflow; and describe the roles, responsibilities, and reflections of interdisciplinary team members. Methods: Cross-sectional online surveys were posted on seven professional Listservs from May 2020 to June 2020. Data were summarized descriptively and with semantic content analyses. Results:N = 207 surveys were completed by pediatric palliative program representatives from 80 cities, inclusive of physicians, nurses, child life, social workers, chaplains, and psychologists. Teams consulted on <20% of potential or presumed COVID-19 cases in their centers. Sixty percent of personnel were deemed "essential" during the pandemic. One-third of personnel remained in their usual work locale, with some shifting to support adult palliative services and others working remotely. Over 60% reported a sense of team "distance" compared with "close" team cohesion, associated with physical location of team members (p < 0.01) and frequency of team counseling, education, or support meetings (p < 0.02). All programs adopted a form of telehealth for patient care, although 41% did not receive telehealth training and 73% perceived unequal care quality with virtual care. Absence of pediatric patients' family members due to visitation policies, missing human presence and physical touch, concern for personal and colleague health, and fear of financial sustainability for programs were notable stressors. Conclusions: While the number of children diagnosed with COVID-19 receiving hands-on care from pediatric palliative care teams was reportedly low, the coronavirus pandemic vastly impacted pediatric palliative care team structure, daily services, and communication models warranting attentiveness to lessons learned and future direction.

Skin‐Integrated Vibrohaptic Interfaces for Virtual and Augmented Reality

AbstractHaptic technology involves the use of electrical or mechanical means to stimulate afferent nerves or mechanoreceptors in the skin as the basis for creating sensations of physical touch that can qualitatively expand virtual or augmented reality experiences beyond those supported by visual and auditory cues alone. An emerging direction in this field involves the development of platforms that provide spatiotemporal patterns of sensation to the skin across not only the fingertips, but to any and all regions of the body, using thin, skin‐like technologies that impose negligible physical burden on the user. This review highlights the biological basis for skin interfaces of this type and the latest advances in haptics in the context of this ambitious goal, including electrotactile and vibrotactile devices that support perceptions of touch in form factors that have potential as skin‐integrated interfaces. The content includes a discussion of schemes for integrating these stimulators into programmable arrays, with an emphasis on scalable materials and designs that have the potential to support soft interfaces across large areas of the skin. A concluding section summarizes the potential consequences of successful research efforts in this area, along with key multidisciplinary challenges and associated research opportunities in materials science and engineering.

Perception of integrative care in paediatric oncology—perspectives of parents and patients

PurposeFor some years now, a programme for the use of integrative care in paediatric oncology has been established in a German university hospital and offers patients and parents complementary treatment options. According to their medical condition and wishes. A variety of external applications such as medical wraps, warm oil compresses and rhythmic embrocations are offered. This article analyses how patients and parents perceived and experienced the integrative care program. MethodsIn this qualitative study, data consists of field notes conducted through participant observation, informal conversations and interviews with parents (n = 25) during the implementation phase of the program. Data was analysed on basis of thematic analysis and organized with the analysis software MAXQDA. ResultsParents and families intuitively developed strategies for dealing with crisis situations such as childhood cancer. In addition, many of the families brought with them a wealth of experience in complementary medicine. Parents perceived the integrative care treatments as soothing, relaxing and pain-relieving for their child. Patients could relax and side effects of chemotherapy were alleviated. However, children, who undergoing chemotherapy were not always open for physical touch and thus sometimes also rejected the treatments sometimes. ConclusionThe analysed integrative care programme is perceived as a strong patient and family-centred approach of support during the oncological paediatric treatment. From a salutogenetic viewpoint, this program aims to strengthen the dimension of manageability within the concept of sense of coherence. Parents are given supportive means to manage side effects and ease their child’s suffering, through touch and attention that can be very beneficial.

Thermo‐Haptic Materials and Devices for Wearable Virtual and Augmented Reality

AbstractThe current generation of virtual and augmented realities (VR/AR) has substantially advanced in the past decade because of the rapid development of converging technologies in various engineering and scientific fields. However, the current VR/AR technologies rely mainly on visual and auditory senses to physically replicate the virtual environment, although tactile senses play a significant role in the daily life since a myriad of tactile information is received through physical touch. Of the tactile senses, thermal senses are of great importance to be reproduced in the VR/AR field, since heat is transferred constantly and further interact with the surrounding environment. To date, there has been a huge amount of research studies on functional materials, thermo‐haptic devices, and wearable electronics that have all converged to form the fundamental groundwork for the development of wearable thermal VR/AR devices. In this progress report, a review on various physical mechanisms and research is provided that can potentially be applied in the next generation of thermal VR/AR technologies and discuss the essential challenges that need to be addressed.

LGBT+ physicists qualitative experiences of exclusionary behavior and harassment

This article looks at the qualitative survey responses of LGBT physicists about their experiences of exclusionary behavior and harassment. Of the 324 respondents 71 reported such an experience and gave a qualitative response. Findings indicate that the majority of respondents experienced exclusionary behavior based on their gender expression or being a woman. The behavior came mostly in the forms of verbal comments and social exclusion, with fewer participants reporting physical touching or sexual harassment. These findings indicate the importance of intersectionality when considering experiences in physics and point to the need for more research on and support for LGBT-identified students and professional. As such, the results represent a relevant and important case study in the area.

Mid-Air Haptic Rendering of 2D Geometric Shapes With a Dynamic Tactile Pointer.

An important challenge that affects ultrasonic mid-air haptics, in contrast to physical touch, is that we lose certain exploratory procedures such as contour following. This makes the task of perceiving geometric properties and shape identification more difficult. Meanwhile, the growing interest in mid-air haptics and their application to various new areas requires an improved understanding of how we perceive specific haptic stimuli, such as icons and control dials in mid-air. We address this challenge by investigating static and dynamic methods of displaying 2D geometric shapes in mid-air. We display a circle, a square, and a triangle, in either a static or dynamic condition, using ultrasonic mid-air haptics. In the static condition, the shapes are presented as a full outline in mid-air, while in the dynamic condition, a tactile pointer is moved around the perimeter of the shapes. We measure participants' accuracy and confidence of identifying shapes in two controlled experiments ( n1 = 34, n2 = 25). Results reveal that in the dynamic condition people recognise shapes significantly more accurately, and with higher confidence. We also find that representing polygons as a set of individually drawn haptic strokes, with a short pause at the corners, drastically enhances shape recognition accuracy. Our research supports the design of mid-air haptic user interfaces in application scenarios such as in-car interactions or assistive technology in education.

SELF DISCREPANCY AND SELF-ESTEEM AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

With the increasing technologies and every information being just a click away people have started to lose the physical touch and have been continuously moving towards shortcuts and easy accessibilities, which has been leading to the creation of discrepancies. The objective of this research is to study whether the discrepancy between Real Self and Virtual self influence on college student’s Self-Esteem. Discrepancy between Real Self and Virtual self scale was developed based on review of literature and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to measure self esteem. A survey research questionnaire was used to collect data. Total of 209 participants were taken as sample from different colleges. Pearson product moment correlation and independent t- test was used to analyze the data. The major findings of this research were that the discrepancy between real self and virtual self leads to lower self-esteem among college students. The research will implicate to enhance college students self esteem.

Physician and Patient Perceptions of Physical Touch in Primary Care Consultations in Lebanon: A Qualitative Study

Background: Verbal and non-verbal communications are an inherent component of physician-patient interactions. The psychological and physiological benefits of non-verbal communication such as gestures, expressions, eye contact, and particularly physical touch in healthcare have been previously explored by the scientific community, albeit insufficiently in the primary care context. Objective: This study aims to address this gap by investigating physician and patient perceptions of expressive touch and its effect on patient satisfaction in primary care consultations in Lebanon. Methods: We recruited 12 physicians and 13 patients and subjected them to audiotaped semi-structured interviews. We selected the patients from three hospitals, while physician responders were from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Lebanese University. We translated the survey instrument into Arabic and validated it using back translation sustained by a pilot study. We performed constant comparative qualitative analysis for obtained relevant data. Results: Patient satisfaction and trust were associated with good verbal and non-verbal communication. Patient and physician responders recognized the benefit of empathy in building long-term relationships. Social and non-intimate expressive touches were positively perceived by patients, although within ethical and religious boundaries. Male physicians expressed clear apprehension for the use of touch, especially towards female patients, due to religious considerations. On the other hand, touch from female physicians was reportedly accepted by patients of both genders, while touch from their male counterparts was associated with more uneasiness. Discussion and Conclusions: Religious concerns are prevalent among Lebanese physicians and patients alike. However, the use of reassuring physical touch is still a cornerstone of the patient-physician relationship in Lebanon, albeit with some limitations. The potential therapeutic effect of verbal and non-verbal communication is evident and warrants further investigation. Communication training efforts should emphasize the importance of religiously and ethically appropriate expressive touch in healthcare. This would serve to promote positive physician and patient perceptions of this practice and improve clinical communication and expressiveness.

A Tactile Method for Rice Plant Recognition Based on Machine Learning.

Accurate and real-time recognition of rice plants is the premise underlying the implementation of precise weed control. However, achieving desired results in paddy fields using the traditional visual method is difficult due to the occlusion of rice leaves and the interference of weeds. The objective of this study was to develop a novel rice plant recognition sensor based on a tactile method which acquires tactile information through physical touch. The tactile sensor would be mounted on the paddy field weeder to provide identification information for the actuator. First, a flexible gasbag filled with air was developed, where vibration features produced by tactile and sliding feedback were acquired when this apparatus touched rice plants or weeds, allowing the subtle vibration data with identification features to be reflected through the voltage value of an air-pressured sensor mounted inside the gasbag. Second, voltage data were preprocessed by three algorithms to optimize recognition features, including dimensional feature, dimensionless feature, and fractal dimension. The three types of features were used to train and test a neural network classifier. To maximize classification accuracy, an optimum set of features (b (variance), f (kurtosis), h (waveform factor), l (box dimension), and m (Hurst exponent)) were selected using a genetic algorithm. Finally, the feature-optimized classifier was trained, and the actual performances of the sensor at different contact positions were tested. Experimental results showed that the recognition rates of the end, middle, and root of the sensor were 90.67%, 98%, and 96% respectively. A tactile-based method with intelligence could produce high accuracy for rice plant recognition, as demonstrated in this study.

Quick Studies

Kimon Nicolaïdes’s 1941 instruction manual The Natural Way to Draw became a national bestseller by analogizing drawing with physical touch. The book’s 64 exercises evolved from the courses Nicolaïdes taught at the Art Students League from 1925 to 1937—courses that invited artists to imagine touching the things they drew, using vast quantities of cheap paper to make as many errors as necessary. One such artist was Mamie Harmon, a Greenwich Village lesbian who became Nicolaïdes’s devoted student and close friend. Harmon took Nicolaïdes’s classes while working as an editorial assistant at Funk & Wagnalls, and eventually edited The Natural Way to Draw. This essay narrates Nicolaïdes’s methods through the lens of his and Harmon’s highly managed intimacy, focusing on their dedication to subtle, minor, and marginal forms of attention. I show how the page facilitated a flexible way of seeing that allowed even the most well-concealed queer identities to find form.

Lost Touch? Implications of Physical Touch for Physical Health.

ObjectivesGrowing research on the impact of physical touch on health has revealed links to lower blood pressure, higher oxytocin levels, and better sleep, but links to inflammation have not been fully explored. Physical touch may also buffer stress, underscoring its importance during the stressful time of living in the COVID-19 global pandemic – a time that has substantially limited social interactions and during which physical touch has been specifically advised against.MethodsWe analyze nationally representative longitudinal data on older adults (N=1124) from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project using cross-lagged path models.ResultsMore frequent physical touch is significantly related to a lower likelihood of subsequent elevated inflammation.DiscussionThese findings highlight the importance of finding safe ways to incorporate physical touch, even in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scabs Versus Scars: Understanding the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Short- and Long-Term Behaviors.

Scabs Versus Scars: Understanding the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Short- and Long-Term Behaviors.

The challenges of COVID-19 for people with dementia with Lewy bodies and family caregivers.

The challenges of COVID-19 for people with dementia with Lewy bodies and family caregivers.

Iraq Faces the COVID-19 with Limited Health Capabilities and Major Medical Challenges

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease affecting the respiratory system, which has had an unprecedented effect on healthcare systems globally with severe impact on specialist services. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus strain (CoV) was detected in Wuhan, China. By January 2020, It named as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by the World Health Organization (WHO). On February 24, Iraq announced that an Iranian student has infected by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the south of Iraq in the holy Shiite city (Najaf). This was the first confirmed case in the whole of Iraq. The patient entered the country before the Iraqi government decided to restrict the entry of Iranian citizens on border crossings or airports. This article sheds light on the following concepts: The unqualified health system in Iraq to face the pandemic disease like COVID-19; the religious rituals in Iraq which contributed to the events of large gatherings to visit the holy shrines which increase the virus spread. Finally, discuss the social customs and traditions where the spread of the Coronavirus in Iraq has modified Iraqi customs and traditions that show personal affection through physical touch.