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Health Check: Have you ever hugged your doctor?

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A health worker and patient share a hug

2020/10/14 GMT

Have you ever hugged your doctor?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Have you ever hugged your doctor?

What role does touch play in health care?

Some doctors greet their patients with a hug – but would it be ok for a therapist to comfort a distressed client? The Touch Test reveals our attitudes towards touch in health care

This week Claudia Hammond looks at the role of touch in health care, revealing some of the results of the Touch Test, an online study commissioned by Wellcome Collection in collaboration with the BBC. 

Doctors often need to physically examine patients – but many consultations are now online. Family doctors Margaret McCartney and Ann Robinson explain how important touch is in the consulting room. 

One of the experts behind the Touch Test, Greenwich University’s Dr Natalie Bowling explains how men said they found touch helped them to communicate better with their doctor. And Deborah Bowman who’s professor of Bioethics at St George’s University in London reflects on how she helps trainee doctors to respect their patients’ dignity by practising on each other. 

Can touch play a role in talking therapies? Or is hugging a distressed client too risky, following #metoo? 

And we hear from Anne Townsend who has lost her sense of touch as a side effect of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Reflexology – where the feet are gently massaged – has helped to relieve some of her symptoms like pain and breathlessness – and she is looking forward to the birth of her first great grandson later this month.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Paula McGrath

(Picture: A health worker and patient share a hug. Photo credit: Sanjeri/Getty Images.)

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