Virtual Ability Hosts "Health Literacy" Discussion

On Sunday November 4, Gentle Heron at Virtual Ability Island hosted a discussion on "Health Literacy." "I see some in the audience are health care educators," she told everyone after greeting them, "I suspect others of us will find useful information here for our own areas of work."

Zsuzsa Tomsen and ALiesel were the presenters of the discussion. Susan Toth-Cohen in real life, Zsuzsa "is the Director of the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program and Professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA," Gentle told everyone, "She has extensive experience teaching and presenting in SL. She is an occupational therapist specializing in gerontology and consumer health. ALiesel is an occupational therapy graduate student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, She works with Zsuzsa in the Garden of Healthy Aging here in Second Life, and is very interested in health literacy."

The discussion was in text, with the audience asked to introduce themselves first. Among them was a "doctoral student," "a pediatrician, the department head of University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, and a vocational rehabilitation worker.

Zsuzsa and ALiesel had attended a health conference in Kobe Japan, "The conference … made us think about links between introprofessional teams and health literacy." He noted the conference had three main details" global perspectives, development of "interprofessional" education, and examination of results. Of health literacy, Zsuzsa described the definition by the Harvard School of Public Health, "the balance between literacy and verbal skills of a person compared to demands of the health materials, communication skills of health professionals and the health care system."

"Interprofessional education which I'll refer to as IPE," Zsuzsa went on, "is defined by the World Health Organization as being any time students from 2 or more professions learn about, with, and from each other with the goals of effective communication and improving health outcomes."

A screen behind them showed several illustrations as Zsuzsa talked, showing a few links. She talked about how, "IPE also makes health care safer by decreasing medical errors" and health mentors. She described the  University of British Columbia as a leader in IPE, "they've developed a fantastic interprofessional education series." ALiesel mentioned one project the Thomas Jefferson University started, "Since 2005, Jefferson has sent several IP teams of students to Rwanda. They have worked with Rwandan health care teams to train health professionals" in addition to working with them "to provide training in nutrition, hygiene, HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as providing education for the public through health fairs and other events."

There was some talk with the audience, one stating, " 'Nearly half of all American adults – 90 million people – have difficulty understanding and using health information, and there is a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited health literacy,' the Institute of Medicine 2004." Near the end, Rachel Gloedu brought up, "We are inviting volunteers from the SL community to observe and evaluate medical and nursing students undergoing teamwork training in communication skills this month."

At the close, Gentle Heron, gave all her thanks, "Thank you all for coming today. And special thanks to Zsuzsa and ALiesel for sharing a few of the things they learned on their trip to Japan." "We enjoyed it so much!" Zsuzsa responded, "Great audience!"

Two links given during the discussion were:

http://www.healthliteracy.org.uk/seminar-presentations-to-download

http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/News/2011/December/thomas-jefferson-university-jeff-health-hosts-medical-students-from-rwanda.aspx

The Second Life Enquirer recently wrote on Virtual Ability Island: article here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Daaneth McGettigan (Daaneth Kivioq)

Recently, I had the chance to interview Daaneth McGettigan (account name Daaneth Kivioq), the co-captain of the Passionate Redheads Relay for Life team, and the owner of the Southern Colorado sim. We sat down at the meeting area at the sim near Fimi Falls. During this time, Daan’s cat in real life wanted attention. So, he rezzed a virtual one on his lap.


Bixyl Shuftan: About your Second Life name, does it matter whether people use your account name or your displayed name?

Daaneth McGettigan: No - either way, if they search for me, they will find me. I know that display name support is not perfect, but that does work. For example, it says "Kivioq" when I IM someone.

Bixyl Shuftan: So where did you find out about Second Life?

Daaneth McGettigan: That’s an interesting story. Seven years ago, a good friend of mine in real-life, known as Krysis here, talked me into trying it out. I was overwhelmed at first. Second Life was nowhere as sophisticated as it is today. I almost quit, but friends here talked me into staying. Some of them are still here, but most have left, among them Krysis. We still meet up in real-life though.

Over the years, there’s been some huge changes in the technology. Of course, it required me to upgrade my computer several times.

About five years ago, I met Sabine through the Relay

Bixyl Shuftan: How did you find out about the Relay?

Daaneth McGettigan: Sabine introduced it to me. We had been dating for several months. I had lost a sister to pancreatic cancer. I didn’t know anything about it at first. She came to me a few days before the Relay weekend. The guy who was going to help her build the campsite disappeared. It was a 24 marathon build, but we got it done. That was my introduction to the Relay.

Bixyl Shuftan: How many were in the Passionate Redheads at the time?

Daaneth McGettigan: There were another five members. There were a few more, but not active. Sabine and I pretty much moved on. We worked at Burning Life that year, and by December we were partnered. For the Relay next year, we made an Ice Palace build. We still have a number of pictures of it."

Bixyl Shuftan: When did the Redheads start to take off in size?

Daaneth McGettigan: In 2008, we started recruiting actively. It was our second best year at fundraising. We managed to raise $10,000. It was the year Fimi joined the team. She was active for a while, until she was too sick to participate. She passed away on May 26th, 2008. She was really, really, loved. We were impressed with her spirit.

Since then, the team has done really well. This year, the team kind of split. I’m kid of happy, we both raised more money. We raised just over $2,800.

Bixyl Shuftan: What’s the name of the other team?

Daaneth McGettigan: Inspired Dream Walkers. One of them thought we were getting too big. I think they just wanted to do their own thing.

In 2008, we were awarded the Golden Level Team Award. In 2009. we were awarded the Spirit of Relay award. I think Sabine deserves most of the credit for that. She’s worked really hard.

I think this year’s build is the finest team effort Lom(gren Smalls) acted in charge, but also Dusk (Griswold), Shockwave (Yareach), and the others.

Bixyl Shuftan: How is it having the smallest avatar in Second Life on your team?

Daaneth McGettigan: He may be the smallest guy in Second Life, but he has a big heart.

Maybe I should bring up the stroke.

Bixyl Shuftan: What happened?

Daaneth McGettigan: Well, it was like out of the blue. It happened in April Fortunately, I got to the hospital. Scary time. I didn’t realize what was happening. Lomgren and Sabine tracked me down. Sabine really helped me. (pause) I don’t really have words to describe it.

The first few days were especially confusing. I had problems forming the words. I still have gaps in my memory. My Mother flew over. She stayed for about two months. I was also fortunate to have a very good team of therapists. I would like to point out one for his work: Dr. Pio Guerro.

While in the hospital, I heard that the Relay threw a “Get Well” party for me. That really moved me, brought me to tears. I wish I could remember all the teams involved. Me being out of commission put a halt to fundraising. I made it back in time for Dusk’s Cinco De Mayo party. It was a wonderful homecoming.

The hardest thing, it was learning to type all over again. I still prefer Voice over it in Second Life. I’m also having to relearn math skills. Relearning calculus is necessary for my line of work.

Bixyl Shuftan: So what have been some of the more inventive ways for fundraising.

Daaneth McGettigan: That would be the “Bid Me Human” events. A couple years ago, I did a “Bid me Furry” event offering to go about in a furry avatar for a little while if 10,000 Lindens were raised. This year, there were three “Bid Me Human” events, the ones in which Nydia and Rita volunteered for were particularly successful, especially Rita’s. I believe over 70,000 Lindens were raised.

Bixyl Shuftan: Rita Mariner being the one who runs the Sunweaver Estates, do you think there was a “needle the landlady” factor?

Daaneth McGettigan: Maybe, but I think it was done all in the name of fun. Rita was a good sport about it.

Also, we did a pinup calendar with various Redheads in swimsuits. Plus we made a cookbook from various recipes contributed by a number of Redheads. About eighty copies of the cookbook were sold. Both are still on sale until August 20th.

Bixyl Shuftan: So what do you do when not Relaying?

Daaneth McGettigan: Sabine and I like to go to clubs and concerts. We also hang out at Sabine’s tropical island. I gave it to her as a rezzday present. It’s modeled after her favorite real-life place, an island off the coast of Florida, Anna Maria Island. We also explore, go building. Sabine also likes to go shopping.

Bixyl Shuftan: Shopping? What was the biggest thing she ever bought?

Daaneth McGettigan: Probably a furniture set. I think I once bought her a kitchen suite. She likes to collect hair. Most of it’s red, but not all of it. Her favorite color is pink.

It’s been an interesting journey. I don’t know what I’d do if she was no longer online.

Bixyl Shuftan: So what are your plans for next year?

Daaneth McGettigan: Right now, I don’t want to think of next year. We’ll take it easy for a little while.


Daaneth then showed me around Southern Colorado. The sim was established in 2007. In 2008, he dedicated it to the Relay. He used it to host events, and still does, dances and meetings held here. Not far away from the meeting area is Fimi Falls, named for Artistic Fimicloud whom was known to really like them. Daaneth pointed out something in one of the pine trees at the falls: a pink ribbon. This was another tribute to Fimi, whom liked to put a pink ribbon somewhere in her paintings.

Near the falls was a treehouse. At the base there three luminaries, one from this year’s Relay, and one from 2010 and 2009 respectively. The treehouse itself was well-furnished with Victorian furniture. It gets a few occasional residents. Not far from the treehouse and meeting area was a garden dedicated to Saint Therese of Lisieux, “Sabine’s favorite saint.” Near that is the Soldiers’ Memorial.

Close by is the cat carousel, or the “catousel” as Daaneth calls it. There’s also a balloon ride, courtesy of Shockwave Yareach. A little down the path is an Elven drum circle and a campfire. Crossing a river, there is the “Chapel of Hope,” which was built for the 2010 Relay camp. Of the streams, Daan commented he was fond of them and the waterfalls.

Daaneth then showed one feature relatively new to the sim, houses for rent. There were five Victorian homes, which were available at prices from 7,000 to 8,000 Lindens a month. Anyone interested in one could contact him or Nydia Tungsten.

Walking away from the housing, there was a lake and some ducks, and some mountain scenery. Daaneth showed off a fountain, with a cat statuette guarding it, ”I built it some years ago. I’m happy to have it here.” He then showed a hidden cove in the side of the mountain. While some places have places for couples to cuddle in secret hideaways, this hidden place had something different: a yoga mat, “I do a few exercises here.”

Going up a path to higher up, there is a building Daaneth named the “Philosophy Shack.” Daaneth forgets just how he came up with that name. Not far from that is a virtual herbal garden. Accessible by one of a few portals around the sim, or by flying over, is Southern Colorado’s Enchanted Forest, another popular spot. Danneth described the place as having a lot of nooks and crannies for couples to snuggle. The Forest is also the scene of occasional parties, such as the recent fundraiser where Cypress Rosewood performed.

After that, Danneth, had one other location to point out, and ported us to the high point of the sim: Mount Sabine. We were on a platform just below the peak where a huge Coloradan flag flew in the breeze. Snow sprinkled down where we were. On a slightly shorter peak, a angel statue looked down at the sim below. And nearby within sight was Club Little Dove.

After that, Daaneth and I parted ways. So is the story of the co-captain of one of the Relay for Life’s most successful teams, and the sim behind him.

Bixyl Shuftan

What Not to Say to the Chronicaly Ill

I remember reading somewhere more than twenty percent of Second Life Residents have some kind of disability. Some keep quiet about it. Others mention it to friends after a while. And some are open about it to friends and strangers alike.

One such friend, a Christian and mother of two, had the misfortune to be stricken with fibromyalgia, a painful disorder that is thought to affect between two and four percent of people. She has encountered a number of people in Second Life, many sympathetic and offering well-wishes and prayers. But a few seemed insensitive, or were clueless in what to say.

So on her public garden, she posted a list of “Things NOT to say to someone with a disabling chronic illness.” She tells me she had heard them at least once.

“But you don’t look sick.”

“Everybody gets tired.”

“Everybody has a bad day.”

“If you’d get more exercise”

“You’ll just have to tough it out.”

“You just need a positive attitude.”

“It must be nice not having to work.”

“There are people worse off than you.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s all in your head.”

“You’re just depressed.:

“You’re getting old.”

“If you’d get out more often.”

“This too, shall pass.”

And what she thought hurt the worst, “You don’t have enough faith.”

“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but unless you get it, you just don’t get it.”

She tells me she had heard each of them at least once. So eventually, she felt the need to make the poster and put it up as a reminder that for the chronically ill, words truly can hurt.

“Have a Blessed Day”

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on Tuna Oddfellow of the Odd Ball

Tuna Oddfellow, known as “Fish the Magish” in real life, runs the Odd Ball with the help of his partner Shava Suntzu. The Odd Ball show is a one of a kind place in Second Life in which the area are surrounded by dazzling colors and patterns described by some as like a psychedelic experience without the drugs, described by others as dancing in a kaleidoscope.

When I interviewed Tuna and Shava in May 2010, their situation was a troubled one. Shava did most of the speaking, describing Tuna as disabled due to medical problems and the pain that came with them.

Tuna Oddfellow: ... I'm not in pain for most of my day, which is better than it was. But I don't go through a day generally without hours of it in really bad pain.

Shava Suntzu: And he can't predict when. It makes it impossible to plan things. Sometimes he can muscle through it. He was in pain for most of every day until we started the new medication in January. But it seems to be plateau-ing. It doesn't cure anything, it just reduces the symptoms. ... There's nothing that fixes this -- it's a nervous system disorder that's recognized, but they don't know why it happens. And you can't use most pain meds for it because all the opiates mess with the function of the gut, and the disorder is already messing with nerves in the gut. So they just chock it up as "neuropathic pain,” which even his GI specialist admits is a "garbage pail diagnosis.”

Despite their troubles, the pair did their best to be optimistic, talking about the development of the Odd Ball, how in it’s first showing the audience found themselves in a “mild euphoric” state. When a psychologist looked at it, “he thought it was inducing theta activity in the brain” and were later told it seemed “that there was alpha too. That's typical of some kinds of deep meditation. So this was pretty exciting. We kept working to refine what we did ... everyone kept saying it felt like being stoned.”

Shava worked to find out exactly how the special effects worked, and in July 2009 had pretty much done so. “And now we're filing patents. We're so close to getting to the point where things could get better.” But Tuna’s declining health and then her catching pneumonia were pushing them to the financial edge, “I missed some deadlines and some consulting stuff, and lost some work, and now we're just hosed. ... I thought I'd find more work, but I haven't yet. What we do in SL, generally pays the rent and expenses here. But we aren't like the people who pull out money every month.”

I met up with them again earlier this month. Shava told me they had been to another doctor who made some progress in finding out what was wrong, and expected to hear more news in about a week. Checking later on, Tuna had been given some new medication that was working better, Shava saying, “Tuna's adjusting to his meds, so he's actually been able to work on Odd Ball stuff, but he's not very mobile. I’ll take it though. (smile) His schedule is set by when the pain's least. ... It's *really* good for both of us when he can be engaged.”

The Social Security office was reviewing his case about his benefits, but there was some bad news, “My landlord is giving us an eviction notice next week. In Massachusetts, that gives us 6 months to figure things out. But it stings. I've been all kinds of activist and entrepreneur -- intellectually, I know I always get through these things, but that fails to make them fun to go through. It does inoculate somewhat against despair though.”

“On one level, I can't complain. I've had a very adventurous life, and I would probably be bored stiff doing the conventional run of things. ... I figure Second Life drama is usually so tawdry, we get to raise the bar by doing the classic starving artist romance? It's like La Boheme, except Tuna has a beard.” She was doing his best to keep a cheerful face, “It's a survival tactic. If you don't, you stop moving, and that's when it catches up and eats you! “

The Odd Ball’s location is at the research center sim at (133, 133, 651)

Tuna and Shava have incorporated their business in real-life, Oddfellow Studios, and have a website at http://oddfellowstudios.com .

“Come, be odd.”

Source: SL Newspaper

Bixyl Shuftan