Teddy Bear Hospital helps dispel illness anxiety in children

A hospital visit can be traumatic for both child and parent, but medical students from the University of Melbourne are using play with teddy bears to relax patients and demystify medical procedures in an outpatient clinic.

Growing out of a medical student-led volunteer initiative, the Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) is now set to become a regular feature at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Already active as a volunteer community event for the past several years, the TBH has now also been formally incorporated into paediatrics training for Doctor of Medicine students. The program helps children become comfortable with the medical consultation process while promoting health in a fun and hands-on environment.

Professor Paul Monagle from the University of Melbourne Academic Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital said the program aimed to reduce the fear of medical consultations.

“Children are empowered by being able to participate in a simulated medical consultation as the teddy’s ‘carer’. They can complete simple procedures and even become familiar with medical language,” he says.

Medical students, and current co-ordinators of the student volunteer committee, John Politis and Andra Desra, believe there are great benefits for their own learning as well.

“Children, with their very creative imaginations, often come up with interesting and unusual medical problems that can be quite a fun challenge for the medical student,” he says.

“We love doing this and feedback from parents has been encouraging. Volunteering with the Teddy Bear Hospital is an incredibly rewarding and enriching professional and personal experience.”

Dr Wonie Uahwatanasakul, the Academic Co-ordinator for the TBH, says the program offers an important and innovative learning experience and “gives medical students an excellent opportunity to improve their communication skills with children, and to develop patience and creativity in their dealings with them”.

With the support of the University’s Department of Paediatrics, the volunteer committee is set to run the biggest TBH yet on 18 April with nearly 500 nursing, physiotherapy, dentistry and biomedical students expected to don their hospital scrubs.

Part of the Kids Day Out for the annual Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, and held for the first time at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, thousands of children and their families are expected to attend.

The Teddy Bear Hospital will offer children and their families the opportunity to bring along their favourite teddy or soft toy for a mock-medical check-up and to try out a variety of activities which can include a visit to Teddy ICU, Teddy Surgery, X-Rays and Physiotherapy, and to learn about anatomy, dental hygiene and staying healthy. The $5 cost for entry to the event will be donated to the Good Friday Appeal.

The Teddy Bear Hospital will run from 10.00am-4.00pm on Good Friday 18 April.