Innovative programmes provide positive slant on hospital appointments

It is possible to make hospital visits more enjoyable and much less scary, says Roslyn Neely

Hospitals can be daunting for all of us but for children and young people they can be especially stressful.

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity exists to transform the experiences of children and young people in hospital; using engaging techniques to connect children positively with their treatment is just one of the ways we do this.

For both children and parents, attending the hospital for an imaging examination, for example, can be an intimidating prospect. Seemingly trivial details such as whether the ultrasound gel will be cold can be a cause of anxiety to young patients. When describing an x-ray to a child, some mistake this as having a camera travel inside their body.

When you’re small, pieces of equipment can seem huge and others, such as a MRI scanner, can be very noisy. Added to all of this, many children and young people fear needles and some worry when having their blood taken that all the blood is being removed from their body. And when a child or young person is anxious and upset, their parents often feel the same.

At ECHC, we work closely with the teams at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children to devise engaging ways to make the hospital experience more positive for all. The more relaxed and happy the child, the more likely they are to attend appointments and engage with treatment.

ECHC has committed to fund an innovative arts programme involving long and short term arts residencies, participatory activities,