The Fascinating Family

Part of the Seven thousand feet project 'The Fascinating Family' was created to illustrate the potential health complications caused by diabetes. Some of which include eyesight problems, amputation and heart attack. The work was carried out in collaboration with researchers at MMU and Research for the Future. Research for the Future is an NHS supported campaign that helps people find out about and take part in health and care research. Getting involved in research means you are helping to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose and manage illnesses. The Fascinating Family is now being used as a public engagement tool by Research for the Future. Concept: Christine Wilcox-Baker; Illustrations: Fabia Fowler. We are very grateful to The Physiological Society for their grant which enabled us to produce the Family. Meet Ramesh, Jack and Sharon (left to right) Ramesh has blue dots representing eyesight problems and headaches. The blue dot door knob opens the panel to reveal potential pancreas problems. Jack has a blue door knob which when opened reveals problems with his veins not feeding down to his foot and thus putting him at risk of amputation. Sharon has blue dots representing constant thirst and wanting to go to the loo a lot, especially at night. The blue door knob opens the panel to reveal risk of heart attack. Ramesh, Jack and Sharon also 'talk' to you. They have motion sensors which activate their voices and they tell you about their experiences of diabetes. These figures could be adapted to represent other medical conditions and we’d be very happy to discuss possibilities.