Engaging with Patients for Holidays Matters
No one likes to miss out on holiday traditions, least of all children. But when a child is hospitalized, normalcy is out the window. The gift of Child Life is to bring some of that normalcy back, by introducing play into the hospital setting. Child Life also works hard to bring those moments of childhood joy to little patients who might miss out otherwise. One of my own joyful childhood memories is of receiving valentine’s at school and shuffling through them when I got home. Homemade or store-bought, I just loved reading the names of who it was from. Many hospitals run programs during valentine’s season to bring hand-delivered valentines to children, like C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital who has used augmented reality valentines to bring magic moments to patients, or St. Jude’s e-card program that sends custom valentine’s to patients.
But not every hospital has the means to run a robust valentine’s program. If your hospital is looking to engage patients and you don’t already have a program in place, we are offering a special valentine’s day package that is inexpensive and simple to deploy. Each valentine has a 3D activity that can be triggered by a smartphone or tablet, bringing play and joy to patients. The valentines are printable at your own hospital so you can hand out as many as you like. And you could run an entire program for $60.
Because we believe that holiday joy is beneficial to pediatric patients and that offering moments of normalcy and fun can benefit their healing journey and overall well-being as a child, we are offering one free valentine that you can download and distribute to your patients.
The valentines will be available for download this month to give you plenty of time to prepare your program.
UPDATE January 23, 2024: Valentines are now available for download!