Word meaning "attempt to distract"

I'm not sure there is a word for this, but I'm not happy with the wording of this sentence and I think a single verb would sound better. Here is the sentence:

Pretending to scroll through the medical data displayed on the holodesk was an obvious attempt at distraction.

The context is that the doctor has just given a terminal diagnosis. The best I can come up with is "deception", but that isn't quite right. He's not trying to deceive the patient, he is flustered and awkward, and is trying to make himself look busy, or deflect attention from his awkwardness.

If there's a word for this and someone knows it, I'd be grateful

 

charade? But you'd still have to describe the reason for the charade.

 

Charade is perfect! Thank you! The explanation is already there, in the next sentence. So I can just drop this in

 

I think facade would work as well.

 

I'm actually considering a few synonyms of charade, now that I know the concept and can look them up. I actually wasn't sure whether facade was right. I know it can be used in this context, but to me facade has connotations more of something visually deceiving, while charade is more about ones actions.

 

I think you can screw this down tight and squish out the tautology too:

Scrolling through the medical data on the holodesk was an obvious pretence.

You might not even need the word medical if the context of the scene that leads to it establishes the fact.

 

Why wouldn't you use the word; detract?

It literally means the thing you're asking.

 

@SethLoki
I like that. It's more concise, and 'pretence' sums it up well.

@JPClyde
'Detract' means reducing the value of something. That's not what I mean in this situation.

 

That's 1 of the meanings, yes, but

2. divert or distract (someone or something) away from.
"the complaint was timed to detract attention from the ethics issue"

 

What dictionary is that from? It’s not in my OED, and I’ve never heard that usage before so it doesn’t feel right to me in this context.

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detract

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/detract

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/detract

I mean its right there in three sources;

detract someone/something fromwith object Cause someone or something to be distracted or diverted from.

‘the complaint was timed to detract attention from the ethics issue’

‘the role did not include operational responsibilities that would detract him from his work’

edit-

I meant to detract, is to divert, to divert is to distract.

 

I did say it’s not in my OED. I didn’t say it wasn’t in any other sources. Thanks for the links. I think ‘detract’ in this contact would need additional language, as “an obvious detraction” doesn’t work. It would need to be something like “an obvious attempt to detract attention”, which is actually more words than the original sentence. I’m trying to write it more concisely, so I think I’ll go with either ‘charade’ or ‘pretence’. Thanks though, I’ve learned a new usage for ‘detract’ which might be useful.

 

Honestly the original sentences is a bit wordy, if you want it cleaner, you could a lot more words than distraction.

Pretending to scroll through the medical data displayed on the holodesk was an obvious attempt at distraction.

"It was clear flipping through medical data was an obvious attempt to detract attention"

"Pretending to scroll through the medical data displayed was an obvious charade"

"Clearly flipping through the medical data displayed was an obvious pretence"

^all uses are shorter than the original

 

Misdirection or misdirect.

 

Hmm, does posturing have connotations of arrogance?

 

Smoke screen?