Earlier this year we were approached by a team of medical manikin manufacturers based at Elstree Studios in North London who were seeking to develop a medical manikin which adequately reflects a child who has Down’s syndrome.
They asked our help to find a model for the manikin…they were looking for a child of around six or seven years old. We were very pleased to help out by sharing their message on our closed Facebook groups. The team were inundated with responses and the process of creating the manikin began in March.
Yesterday, Gwen Manikin was launched at the Association of Simulation practice in Healthcare congress…and is already creating quite a stir!
The real Gwen
Gwen Manikin was modelled on Gwen, who is now 8 years old. Gwen is an active, joyful and chatty young girl who is at mainstream school and who knows her own mind.
Gwen has experienced some complex health issues during her life, so when her parents saw the post on our Facebook group, they realised how important the project was. Having talked about it with Gwen, they put her forward and she was selected for the project.
It’s not easy being turned into a medical manikin…Gwen was scanned and had casts taken of her hands and feet. Gwen was brilliant throughout and the team were excellent at explaining the process to her.
We’ll hope to share more of Gwen’s story in the next issue of our Journal.
More about the project
The team’s aim is to ensure that all healthcare practitioners are adequately trained using a manikin which absolutely reflects a child who has Down’s syndrome. This is achieved using 3D scanning. Gwen is the first manikin of its type anywhere in the world.
The manikin team at Elstree are headed up by U.K. clinical practitioners and medical educators, but also includes movie makers who have built incredible models for Disney and National Geographic Channels. You can find out more about the company here: lifecastbodysim.com