Diaper rash and Relationships

I will be writing about a number of things that I learned from the Micoderm case we discussed in class this week. Allow me to give a brief introduction to what Micoderm is. Micoderm is a product produced by a large manufacturing company called Liderm. Liderm is situated in Spain and has had a large presence across almost all pharmacies in Spain. It is an ointment that is used for both preventive and treatment measures for diaper rash, meaning that it has the ability to prevent the rash and also treat the rash. The preventive measure, however, is more effective than the treatment option.

Micoderm is used to treat diaper rash that affects two groups of people – babies, and the elderly. Babies because they have to wear diapers anyway as they are yet to develop continence of any of their tracts, both urinary and fecal parts of their gastrointestinal tract. On the other hand, the ever-fast-growing elderly population uses it as they will most likely lose continence of their tracts due to age.

This speaks to the fragility of the human body and life cycle. Dr. Akin Oparison during his lecture a few months ago noted on his slide that we have the ‘Intervening years’. He said and I quote “From cradle to grave, is a story of interdependence and service.” This is very true and is very much proven even around us, every day.

It is almost certain who the primary caregivers of the babies are, which includes the parents (father, mother). Secondary caregivers might include older siblings if any, and other extended family members.

However, I wonder who the caregivers of the elderly ones are, as this case makes us understand. Could these aged citizens be occupants of an elderly people’s home where they have assigned nurses attending to them? Or could they have family members who take care of them in which case they will be closely monitored and catered to?

It might be worth it to conduct research into the culture of the people of Spain, and whether they are as family-oriented as some cultures in Asia. 

In order to have family or even close loved one take care of an elderly person, especially one that has a great need such as wearing diapers, I assume will have to do with the quality of relationships they must have developed and nurtured over the years. Although, investing in quality relationships over time might not necessarily mean there will be people available in later years, however, I will like to see it as sowing seeds in which you might not reap directly from the source you sowed.

I will end this with the different levels of relationships that exist, especially when working with teams or multiple individuals. They are

1. Awareness
2. Acknowledgment
3. Interest
4. Emotional Investment
5. Authenticity.

Breaking into other levels past the acknowledgment level is not always easy, but it is more often than not, worth it.