Sue Dean, Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Technology Sydney is interviewed by Georgia Stynes from ABC Canberra.
In this episode, you can listen to Sue explaining the benefits of physical touch in patients.
Her area of research are compassion and empathy, and she helps develop those skills in nursing and health care students.
Sue mentions that some of the benefits are around the psychological and emotional areas. There is evidence that holding hands of a patient reassures them in times of stress or anxiety, and it also helps the health professional who cares for the patient. communicating in a positive way
Sue also speaks about an evidence based study from the University of Oxford that involves Red-bellied lemurs. This study shows how physical touch and social contact can maintain gut health and consequently impact positively the immune system.
Read more about this study here: Red-bellied lemurs maintain gut health through touching and ‘huddling’
Listen to this fantastic interview by clicking HERE