Theatre Blues: looking after healthcare workers through thoughtful scrubs

In Indonesia, being a medical professional could mean many things, one of which is bearing unrealistic expectations of being able to take care of themselves better than the rest of the human race.

The phrase “Dokter kok sakit?” (“How could a doctor get sick?”) is easily thrown about when doctors, just like the rest of the human race, get sick. This sentiment is odd, of course, as medical professionals are always in a close proximity with sickness and even death on a daily basis, especially considering the reality that to work as one means not having regular rest time as well as mealtimes. The pandemic only worsens their situation.

This opens up a topic: who looks after medical professionals?

Seeing that it is about time that medical professionals are offered more options for the comfort at their respective works, dr. Della Sabrina Marta and Riana Halim co-founded Theatre Blues.

“Ever since the pandemic broke out, medical scrubs became a necessity and there has been an exponential growth in the production of modern medical scrubs,” dr. Della said. The growth was a sudden jolt since unlike in other countries, medical scrubs were not a necessity before the pandemic. Today, medical professionals have to be extra careful to separate their personal clothes with the clothes they wear to work due to the risk of contamination.

Even as the need rises, the current market still fails to provide both comfort and style into healthcare workers’ everyday wear. According to the insights the brand collected from doctors and nurses, it is clear that medical professionals want to have options too. “Medical workers deserve to choose and have proper workwear with options of comfortable materials,” dr. Della explained, adding, “they have to prioritise their own well-being before they can help other people.”

The existing market for medical scrubs in Indonesia is considerably poor compared to other countries, given that the necessity arose only recently. As a result, the quality is often overlooked. “They don't focus on the details of the products. For example, the suture and cut are not made to provide comfort for medical workers who are required to actively move, so they’re easily torn,” dr. Della explained.

Initiated by a medical professional, Theatre Blues understood what the medical workforce needed to be able to perform better: comfort, the freedom to move and style. “Style and comfort in medical workwear are not supposed to be compromised; we can provide both,” Riana said.

It is easy to overlook the importance of comfort in workwear, especially when the industry is still in its infancy and still focuses mostly on functionality. Theatre Blues sees this gap as an opportunity to help improve the work life of fellow medical workers by giving them the options on the workwear they would be wearing most of their time.

According to dr. Della, a good medical scrubs should be comfortable to move in and able to accomodate the wearers in various positions when facing emergency situations, such as squat or kneeling. The material also has to have good air circulation even when layered with other clothes, such as personal protective equipment (PPE). It should also be dust-proof, stain resistant and fur-proof for vets.

Instagram/@theatreblues — Image: Theatre Blues

In terms of functions, pockets are very important to keep small tools they use often, such as pen and thermometer. It is also important mostly for female medical professionals that the scrubs can be buttoned up to the chest area. Theatre Blues also considered the depth of its V-necks to provide comfort for female medical professionals.

Having comfortable and stylish workwear will go a long way in improving medical workers’ working conditions. Workwear with low quality and uncomfortable cuts is a limiting workwear, not to mention when it could easily tear. The medical scrubs produced by Theatre Blues not only tried to cover these issues, it also tried making scrubs look more stylish to boost the workers’ confidence. “Feeling comfortable and stylish would definitely boost our work performance,” dr. Della concluded.

Theatre Blues also created the “Grand Grounds with Theatre Blues”, a segment that targets medical workers seeking its products on Instagram. Through the segment, Theatre Blues tried to assist its target audience to get up to date with the recent issues and ideas. The brand believes that to have broad horizons and never stop learning is the beginning of an impactful life for medical professionals. The brand wishes to empower medical workers and broaden their horizons.

Creativity is a very important aspect of Theatre Blues. This aspect also created an opportunity for the local brand to commence international collaborations, especially with medical workers in Southeast Asia.

Comfort is one thing, but working under high pressure on a daily basis while wearing workwear that makes one feel good about how they look is very humanising. Just like how many people forget that doctors could get sick too, this is about the time that the local medical scrubs industry begins to humanise their needs beyond functionality and consider these small but important added value in their products.

Creativity is how Theatre Blues finds solutions to improve fellow medical professionals’ work life quality and take part in looking after them.