Bear necessities for pupil health

The teddy bear scheme is now set for further use in Grampian

A project using teddy bears to show primary children what is involved in a visit to hospital has been held at an Aberdeen school.

The Teddy Bear Hospital came to 30 primary two children at Mile End.

The children brought a teddy bear or other toy, with an illness or injury of their choice, to the simulated hospital clinic.

Medical students from Aberdeen University acted as teddy bear doctors to teach the children about hospital.

Pupils experienced a basic consultation including a stethoscope examination, bandaging, prescriptions and admission forms, and also learned about x-rays, ambulances and healthy eating.

Final year medical student Dominic O'Reilly said: "I wanted to start a Teddy Bear Hospital here because I have seen kids in the Children's Hospital who are very anxious and distressed.

Expansion plan

"Sometimes that is due to the symptoms they are experiencing. But sometimes, this is just because they are in a completely new environment surrounded by lots of strangers.

"It's this group we are aiming this project at, allowing them to recognise some of the things being done around them by medical and nursing staff, and to put their minds at rest to some degree."

Mile End School head teacher Pam Michie said: "This is a great project.

"It's appropriate that Mile End is piloting the Teddy Bear Hospital, as some of our children were young advisors when the new Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital was being planned and their views about what it should include were taken into consideration.

"The children learn a lot from visits to the school and this is a useful educational link with NHS Grampian."

There are now plans for more Teddy Bear Hospitals in the NHS Grampian area.

The Teddy Bear Hospital is a project run in association with Medsin, a charity which aims to promote health equality.