This week in class we discussed our "Spill Your Guts: Part 1" assignment. For those not in the class, this is an assignment that we did to see how many strangers (a minimum of three) you can get to spill their guts to you by using the formative research skills we learned in class two weeks ago. A lot of people had some great stories about how they were able to get perfect strangers to have a conversation with them. Now I am going to be honest, I didn't talk to three people. I only did this once. I happen to find small talk with strangers one of the most awkward situations!
But I decided to give it a try again this week with "Spill Your Guts: Part 2". As an athletic trainer at USD I travel with the teams to away games - right now the football team. This week we are in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana to play Butler University! Coming out here on Thursday our flight was delayed two hours so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get someone to spill their guts. So I started talking! Now this time I kind of cheated because I was talking to my own athletes - but on a team of 95 there is no way for me to know every player well so I chose ones that I don't talk to very much (mostly freshman!). The goal this week was to get people to talk about their health. I must admit that I am probably at an advantage as medical personnel but everyone I talked to just opened right up!
Then I started thinking about it and I realized that even people that are not athletes at USD and I don't know well ask me very random questions when they find out that I am an athletic trainer. And while it is flattering that people think I know a lot - I am not a doctor and don't know everything! = ) Half of the time I can't even answer their question and tell them to call their physician. I think it is so interesting that as soon as people find out that you know a little bit more about the body or health than they do that they are very open about their own health. I think we could use this to our advantage when doing formative research. As long as people are comfortable with us they will tell us whatever we want to know! Of course after we convince them that we know what we are talking about! So this just may be another tool for our formative research toolbox!
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I am not a health professional, but I am amazed at how many people are willing to talk about their health or physical condition, especially if they are older. As we grow older, our bodies start to ache in mysterious places and the causes are not always readily apparent. It is often comforting to commiserate with someone who can “feel your pain” and sometimes just verbalizing our ills can mitigate discomfort.
Our bodies are a fascination and mystery to most of us. Discovering that someone we know has some physiological training or medical background is a definite plus. Why? This person may hold an answer that could save us a trip to the doctor or urgent care facility. We tend to hold physicians in higher esteem and up to less scrutiny than other professions simply because we lack the basic understanding of how our bodies function.
This lack of understanding may lend itself to vicarious methods of self-diagnosis like searching the Internet for medical information that may not be substantiated. Many people attempt to find answers “on-line” instead of seeking proper medical attention for an ailment.
Learning about, and listening to our bodies pays dividends that we can share with others. Even if all we do is listen to them talk.
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