| Interlocutor Role Play Card Patient Setting: Community Health Centre |
| You are a 35-year-old vegetarian who does not cook owing to a hectic lifestyle, and mainly relies on ready meals for convenience. You drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day. Lately, you’ve been feeling exhausted. Your doctor has explained that you have anaemia (the number of red blood cells in your blood is low). You’ve been asked to speak to a nurse for dietary suggestions. TASK Explain to the nurse that you are confused by the diagnosis and how it relates to your diet (you choose vegetarian ready meals because you believe they are healthy). Answer the nurse’s questions regarding your dietary routine (coffee for breakfast, frozen meals for lunch, coffee and cake for afternoon tea, rarely eat dinner). Be resistant to the nurse’s suggestions as you dislike tofu and green leafy vegetables, coffee helps you cope with the stress of work. Finally agree to the recommendations but be adamant that you cannot reduce your coffee consumption. |
| Candidate Role Play Card Nurse Setting: Community Health Centre |
| You are speaking with a 35-year-old who has recently been diagnosed with anaemia (haemoglobin is 8g/dl). Their doctor has referred him/her to your centre for further advice concerning their condition and necessary dietary adjustments. TASK Find out if the patient has any questions regarding the diagnosis. Explain that iron is only sourced from the diet and can be low in vegetarians without planning. Reassure the patient it is treatable with dietary modification. Find out further details about the patient’s dietary habits. Suggest ways in which the patient can increase his/her iron intake (e.g. beans, leafy green vegetables such as spinach/kale, tofu, iron-fortified cereals, reduce consumption of coffee — inhibits absorption of iron). Discuss the importance of food combining as a compromise (allow one hour between consuming iron-rich food and coffee to increase absorption; Vitamin C at the same time as iron-rich food). |