A 'teddy bear hospital' helps reduce anxiety among young patients.
By Judy Siegel Itzkovich
The little 'patients', held by their guardians, lay quietly and without complaint as the young doctors examined and treated them. In fact, they don't make a sound. But that's no surprise since these patients are stuffed animals, the main actors in a program to reduce fear of medical treatment among kindergarten children. The 'teddy bear hospital' idea, modeled after programs first launched a few years ago in Norway, Sweden and Germany, was adopted in April 2000 by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) students at its Faculty of Health Services in Be'er Sheva.
Young children's fear of doctors, nurses and dentists is well known, and hospitalization, despite the decorated corridors and friendly doctors, can cause children even more anxiety. "White coat hypertension" is a common phenomenon (even among some adult patients), resulting in dramatic increases in blood pressure.
At a recent conference of the European Medical Students' Association (EMSA) in the Republic of Georgia, Yuval Bloch, a fifth-year medical student at BGU saw a demonstration of a teddy bear hospital. The 27-year-old chairman of ASRN- the Medical Students' Association of the Negev, was so taken by the idea that he decided to introduce it to Israel immediately.
Bloch enlisted help from ASRN, EMSA, BGU and its affiliated Soroka Hospital, as well as the Be'er Sheva Municipality and the Ministry of Education. Not much financial support was needed, as the project depends largely on volunteers- medical, nursing and physiotherapy students at BGU. In addition, the Ministry of Education chose two kindergartens in the district to participate: one taught by Bruria Assaf, and another by Tzippy Sela. Both teachers were very enthusiastic about the idea.
"Many of the children in Bruria's class had no teddy bear or other stuffed animal of their own at home, so they chose them from the kindergarten," recalls Bloch. "Each child invented a 'disease' or 'condition' from which its stuffed animal 'suffered' and discussed it with the teacher," he continues. Later, the 70 five- and six-year-olds were bused to Soroka hospital- without their parents. "We did not want the fathers and mothers to come because we feared the children would cling to them and feel less independent," Bloch explains.
A large cheerfully decorated tent was set up that Friday morning on the lawn just outside the hospital building. There were balloons and crayons for drawing, and soft drinks and snacks were plentiful. After settling in, the children were invited into a well-equipped ambulance. This teddy bear hospital was equipped with tables, bandages, otoscopes, stethoscopes, flashlights, splints and syringes.
Each 'concerned parent' described the symptoms to a 'teddy bear doctor'. Some of the children chose nonsense illnesses, such as 'color disease' or 'sea disease'; others said their teddy had an earache, sore throat, chicken pox, stomach ache or a broken limb. Many children said their 'child' needed a shot. One child even brought two teddy bears, and claimed that one was sick and had 'infected' the other.
The doctor then examined the furry patient and treated it, with some help from the child. "We made it as authentic as possible," Bloch says. "Each 'parent' was given instructions for continued treatment at home and in class. They also received a certificate marked 'Teddy Bear Doctor'." Bloch notes that the BGU students had prepared themselves for all eventualities. "None of the children said their stuffed animal had 'died,' although we were determined not to lie to the children. We wanted to be optimistic, but if the teddy's arm had been torn off, we didn't tell its 'parent' that it would grow back. And we used a syringe only if the child was not afraid of it. Also, we were careful to focus on the teddy bears and not the child's own health problems."
A kindergarten teacher for 30 years, Bruria commented that the teddy bear hospital experience was "outstanding and unforgettable. I could see that the children's fears and anxieties about going to doctors were reduced. They keep talking about the event and their teddies' treatment. They are much more expressive now." She hopes Bloch will continue to visit her class and talk to the children about their stuffed animals' conditions. "I would love to see this program adopted in every kindergarten around the country," she says.
Bloch concurs. "We believe that having two or three meetings with the children in the hospital and the kindergarten would be even more effective. We would like to make this an annual event." He concludes, "The project produced huge dividends among the children and the adult participants as well. We would like medical students at the other universities to try it; we will report on our experience at the next meeting of the Israel Medical Students' Association."