Real Talk
Engaging patients in end of life talk.
How long have I got? A question like this, when asked by a terminally ill patient to a doctor, is a difficult one to address well. Real Talk is a research group led by Dr Ruth Parry that looks to navigate the dilemmas of raising and discussing the topic of a patient’s death.
The project is primarily video-based communication research. It consists of a series of recordings showing different, real life scenarios such as NHS consultations and therapy sessions. The training provided includes decision-making, empathy and pain management for those working in supportive and palliative care. Due to the sensitive nature of the recordings, the resources are designed to be used by people who already deliver communication training in the NHS, Higher Education, and hospice organisations.
Rebrand for Real Talk
a dozen eggs were asked to develop a brand identity that felt hopeful and fresh, but with a serious tone sensitive to the subject at hand. The logo needed to work alongside the partner organisations both on the website and within the facilitator manual.
Alongside the logo, a simple illustration style was developed to ensure the case studies could be sensitively displayed without breaching confidentiality of the participants.
The Manual
Whilst the video clips themselves needed to sit behind a password protected wall, the manual can be downloaded by any interested party who applies. We spent time designing conventions for transcripts, synopsis and learning points that could be translated onto the web. Consistency and attention to detail was crucial.
Website design & development
The core of the work we undertook for Real Talk was to design and develop a password protected digital repository for all the resources. Due to the authentic and often sensitive nature of the material this would allow the team to restrict access to those who already delivery communication training.
Each module includes a number of case studies which in turn includes a number of clips, both subtitled and not. Each clip required a transcript and synopsis. In total, there are currently six modules that can be accessed by different users. The majority of modules can only be accessed by registered facilitators/trainers. They are required to agree to a series of measures to safeguard the video clips and the people within them.
Recently, the Real Talk resources have been taken over by Treetops hospice, on licence from Loughborough University.
