Page 51 - Care-for-vulnerable-populations-during-COVID-19-pandemic

Difficulty in communicating end of life issues with

PPE

As for issues related with PPE, approaching patients with a face mask is not easy. During my
encounter with a 91-year-old patient, as I was examining her, she turned away because I was in
my full PPE gear. She said, “you don’t like me, is it?”
I said no, and I was trying to smile through the mask and tried to tell her that I am not angry.
She said, “No. I cannot see your face”. I tried to explain to her that the fear of transmitting
disease to her and I cannot remove these.

As you know being a 91-year-old, I don’t think she understood this. I had no choice but to
remove my face mask to give her a smile before she approached me in return and allow me to
care for her. All these non-verbal communication are important. What I did in my subsequent
visits was to continue wearing my mask but to be more verbal and to smile (laugh) more so that
she would know that it is okay for me to care for her.