Isolation and boredom for hospitalized children in Toronto
Arts & Crafts programmes help children cope with hospital stays and ensure they get to do some of the activities they may be missing at school and home
Arts & Crafts programmes help children cope with hospital stays and ensure they get to do some of the activities they may be missing at school and home. Children get a chance to build, create, and share what they’re proud of with their loved ones, giving them a sense of normalcy at a difficult time in their lives and bringing a sense of joy and wonder to what can be very long, trying days spent inside a hospital room. Our Creative Arts Therapy programme encourages children to take their minds off treatments, surgeries and tests, so they can focus on just being a kid again.
Necessity
Normalcy and a sense of joy for a sick child in Toronto.
Activity
Every donation will be designated to our Arts Therapy fund at SickKids, which supports both the Arts Therapists that run the programme as well as supplies needed for these fun projects for children.
Countable effort
Every child at SickKids will have access to a safe, fun arts and crafts project.
Result
Children at SickKids will continue to have access to safe art supplies to help distract them from the difficulties of being in the hospital.
Systemic effect
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, children are isolated from their peers and family members more than ever. Continued funding of our Arts Therapy programme means a chance for children to be distracted from the day to day struggles of being in the hospital and a chance for them to feel like a kid again.
Background
Every day, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has roughly 290 children staying overnight at the hospital. That’s 290children every night that have been pulled from their routines, their family and friends, and the comforts of home; who are feeling unwell, scared, and are experiencing difficult treatments necessary to get them well and get them home again. These overnight stays, plus clinic appointments and ER visits total to SickKids seeing add up to more than 150,000 patients a year: newborns as young as 22 weeks up to young adults 18 years of age. That’s a lot of hours for a lot of children stuck inside the hospital that, instead of fear, boredom, and isolation, can be filled with fun activities that bring these kids a sense of normalcy and childhood joy despite the challenges of their situation.
The good deed
Your gift of an arts and crafts project will help fund Creative Arts Therapy programs and Art Therapists at SickKids to encourage children to take their minds off treatments, surgeries, and tests, so they can focus on just being a kid again. Every calendar sold will be designated to our Arts Therapy fund at SickKids, which supports both the Arts Therapists that run the programme as well as supplies needed for these fun projects for children.
AboutCanada
Ottawa
37,600,000
US$ 52,144
Placed 9th out of 189
The Hospital for Sick Children sees over 100,000 patients a year from across Canada and the world. As a specialized paediatric centre, we treat some of the sickest children in the country with the rarest diseases. This means that often our patients are far from home, far from their support system, and far from the comforts of their daily life. At SickKids, it’s important to us to treat not only the disease but to also care for the child as a whole, which means programmes like Arts Therapy help give children back a sense of normalcy, wonder, and comfort during a difficult time in their lives.
About the organization and further information
Sick Kids Foundation
Website
https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com
