Teddy bear clinic helps kids overcome fears
Clinic part of Child Life Week at Children's Mercy
The teddy bear clinic provides a chance for patients to understand the tests and tools used on them by using them on their bears.
“It’s an awesome idea,” said Hannah Buttaccio, a patient.
“They'll visit our doctor, be able to see he's a real person, not somebody that’s scary, they'll be able to manipulate an IV we have a child life specialist that will help them give their bear an IV,” said Trista Williams, the Child Life Program coordinator.
Williams says any patient who is able is welcome; they're greeted with a donated teddy bear and go from station to station.
“They come in, get their teddy bear triaged, they get their teddy bear weighed, and then they take their teddy bear through different stations that they may see as a patient,” added Williams. “The purpose of doing this is so children can be comfortable with those different areas in the hospital.”
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Learn more about the work Child Life does each day at the hospital.