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Teddy bear hospital helps sick children overcome fears

Teresa Craig
BBC News NI
BBC A young boy in a blue and white top, holds a teddy bear and to the left of the picture are several teddy bears and a simulated X-ray of a bear. The boy has a tube attached to his face and nose as part of his treatment.BBC
Tiernan was one of the children who brought his teddy bear along

A teddy bear hospital in Londonderry is helping children with complex medical needs overcome their anxiety about treatment.

At the mock-up hospital, children get to take their trusted teddies through a number of clinical settings to see how procedures and equipment are used on their bears.

Four-year-old Tiernan, who weighed just over 1lb at birth and has had to undergo numerous operations, was among the first children to bring their teddy bears along when the hospital opened its doors at the city's Waterside Shared Village.

His mum, Chloe, said he can sometimes find medical settings challenging, adding that he can go into "meltdown" when visiting a hospital.

A boy in a blue top with fair hair and tubes attached to his face on the left, a woman next to him is in a black top, a bearded man next to her in a black top with the word NICCE inside a rectangle and a little girl on the right with fair hair, white top, pink trousers. The man is holding the young girl and a teddy bear.
Tiernan's mum told BBC News NI that she hopes the hospital will help add "some fun" to his care

Tiernan now lives with pulmonary hypertension; a condition that affects the blood vessels that supply the lungs, and chronic lung disease.

Chloe told BBC News NI that she hopes the teddy bear hospital will help add "some fun" to Tiernan's care.

"This is about taking away that stigma of the hospital and nurses," she said.

"It will help for him and his sister not to worry about going to the hospital, thinking something bad is going to happen."

A woman with blonde hair smiles into the camera. She is wearing a yellow and green top and is standing in front of a door where there is a poster with a pink background with the words "Sick bears this way" written in blue. A small image of a teddy bear is to the bottom left of the poster.
Lisa Storey said she hopes it will help children feel more comfortable in hospital

The teddy bear hospital initiative is the brainchild of a local parents' group, medical students, and the Western Heath and Social Care Trust (WHSCT).

"The idea is the children will ultimately become more comfortable and reduce their fears," Lisa Storey from the trust's health improvement team said.

"These are children who will be going through their medical journey for life, they will also have appointments and hospitalisations, and that can be quite debilitating if fears develop.

"This early intervention concept here is to reduce those," Ms Storey told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

A young woman with dark hair smiles into the camera. She is wearing a blue top over a white t-shirt and an orange band around her neck. She is standing in a room with about 10 people in the background and two large charts with health information written on them.
Student Hope Barron said the teddy bear hospital will break down "health anxiety"

'Friendly faces'

Student doctors from Ulster University's medical school in the city are on hand to take the children through a range of play stations, showcasing different clinical scenarios.

That might be fitting a nasogastric tube or have a CT scan, Hope Barron from the school of medicine's child health society told BBC News NI.

She added that they had brought in children who are often in hospital and have a lot more "health anxiety".

"It's about coming in and seeing us medical students being happy friendly faces," she said.

Prof Louise Dubras from the medical school, added: "Through student projects such as the Teddy Bear Hospital, we see community focus and community impact right from when medical students join us.

"We are very proud of their leadership to establish a local branch of this UK-wide initiative which aims to improve children's experience of healthcare in hospitals by reducing their anxiety."