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Much like face masks, hand sanitisers have become a household item and a prominent symbol since the COVID-19 pandemic. As sanitisers began to be widely used, contingent issues related to toxic ingredients in sanitising products, heightened pandemic-related anxiety, unscrupulous profiteering through inflated sanitiser prices, obsessive sanitisation, contamination fear, stockpiling, panic buying, and concerns regarding the overall effectiveness of hand sanitisers emerged. Building on these themes, the present article investigates the various issues related to sanitisers after a brief review of the history of sanitisers. To do so, the present article analyses sequential comics and single-panelled cartoons from comic artists such as Randall Munroe, Sarah Morrisette, Shivesh Shrivastava and Dan McConnell. This essay extends its inquiry beyond examining sanitisation practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated cultural implications. Drawing on insights from Object Oriented Ontology, this article brings to relief how sanitisers have evolved into objects that hold, govern and shape our modern existence. Furthermore, the present article highlights how the comic medium visually enunciates the lived experiences of the pandemic, rituals of sanitising and associated issues., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The Dutch graphic novel Naasten , about palliative family caregiving, is the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers and two comic artists. This paper aims to present lessons, reflections and practical recommendations for other researchers interested in adopting (comic) arts-based research methods, in which artistic methods are used as novel ways for generating, analysing, interpreting or representing research data.Our project started with the goal of translation: we aimed at representing research findings into a more accessible, visual and textual form to stimulate discussion and reflection outside academia on moral challenges in family care. This was inspired by comics' hypothesised potential to show complex and embodied experiences, thus enabling more understanding in readers and offering powerful science communication tools. Although this goal of translation was realised in our project, we learnt along the way that the project could have benefited from a more explicit focus on interdisciplinarity from the start and by monitoring the interdisciplinary learning opportunities throughout the project. The following issues are important for any art-research collaboration: (1) an interest in and acknowledgement of each other's (potentially diverging) aims and roles: all parties should-from the start-commit themselves to interdisciplinary collaboration and to exploring the added value of using each other's methods, thereby finding a common methodological ground and language; (2) a continuous discussion of the sometimes contrasting approaches between artists and researchers: differences in using theory and story may result in different criteria for creating good art. When balancing scientific and aesthetic aims, the trustworthiness of the art work should remain an important criterion; (3) an awareness of the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration to offering new perspectives on one's scientific data collection and analysis, for example, providing other conceptualisations or indicating blind spots, provided that artists are involved in the early phases of research., Competing Interests: Competing interests: MH declared that she is coauthor of the graphic novel on which this study was based. The other authors declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship and/or publication of this article., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The following paper examines the cyberpunk transhumanist graphic novel Transmetropolitan through the theoretical lens of disability studies to demonstrate how science fiction, and in particular this series, illustrate and can influence how we think about disability, impairment and difference. While Transmetropolitan is most often read as a scathing political and social satire about abuse of power and the danger of political apathy, the comic series also provides readers with representations of impairment and the source of disability as understood by the Social Model of Disability (SMD). Focusing on the setting and fictional world in which Transmetropolitan takes place, as well as key events and illustration styling, this paper demonstrates that the narrative in this work encompasses many of the same theoretical underpinnings and criticisms of society's ignorance of the cause of disability as the SMD does. This paper aims, by demonstrating how Transmetropolitan can be read as an allegory for the disabling potential of society as experienced by individuals with impairments, to prompt readers into thinking more creatively about how narratives, seemingly unconcerned with disability, are informed and can be understood via disability theory., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The existing literature on leadership often describes it within fairly rigid gender roles. Entire models of leadership have been ascribed gendered labels. Shared leadership is, in traditional leadership theory, a feminine model. After observing a National Health Service (NHS) department enacting a shared leadership model, and using ethnography, grounded theory and comics-based research, we decided to explore the relationship between shared leadership and gender stereotypes. We realised our hope was to see a subversion of traditional stereotypes. Our data showed shared leadership overall as a feminine model, with its focus on distribution and compassion. Within the group, a range of gender roles were performed, meaning that the group could represent itself to the outside world as either more masculine or more feminine as required. This was beneficial, as conflict with outsiders was minimised and hence anxiety reduced. However, we noted that within the group, traditional gender roles were not subverted and were probably reinforced. Despite our view that shared leadership has not been an opportunity to resist gender stereotyping within this department, the success of this feminine model may represent a challenge to the prevailing masculine model of leadership within the NHS., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Problem: Medical errors are a health burden. Residents must be aware of patient safety threats and have confidence reporting concerns. Creative modalities for teaching such content (eg, simulation) are resource intensive, while lectures do not assimilate clinical practice. Therefore, the objective of this project was to assess the use of a comic book to train Internal Medicine residents to identify patient safety issues. We report acceptability of the teaching tool and awareness and confidence in identifying patient safety issues using a comic book., Approach: Residents from the Medical College of Wisconsin participated in a 1-hour session to identify 24 safety topics in a comic book. The primary outcomes were awareness and confidence. Engagement and enjoyment were also measured as forms of acceptability of the tool. Comparisons were made using Fisher's exact tests and paired t-tests for awareness questions and Fisher's exact tests for confidence questions. Analyses were performed using SAS V.9.4., Outcomes: Fifty participants were included in the analyses. Proportions in each awareness category were significantly different on post-test in 21 of 24 topics included. The confidence in both identifying safety topics (55.1% precourse to 96% postcourse) and reporting them (35.42%-90%) increased significantly after the curriculum. 90% found the tool enjoyable and 98% found the tool engaging., Next Steps: This curriculum was successful in increasing resident awareness and confidence regarding patient safety. The use of a comic book was acceptable to residents. Future directions include digital conversion of the curriculum and expansion to include multiple settings within the hospital., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)