Photo: Peter Harrison
To small kids, surgery is a big deal?a big, scary deal. They might not understand what?s going to happen to their bodies, in spite of doctors? explanations. They may be nervous about strange medical machines and equipment. And they could have strong feelings they don?t quite know how to express. Enter Patient Puppets!
The brainchild of Winnipeg puppeteer Shawn Kettner, Patient Puppets were developed 35 years ago and are used in hospitals around the world today to show kids what to expect from surgeries. The floppy and friendly-looking puppets help children mentally prepare for everything from needles to full-body scans to amputations.
The plush therapy toys are about the size of a two-year-old child. They come in orange, pink, green and blue, so they?re not race-specific?something that might alienate a kid. They?re designed with internal features such as velour brains, pumping hearts and jointed spines, which are accessible via openings. Child Life therapists, who are trained to walk children through procedures, can actually open them up and show the kids what part of the body the surgeons will be working on to make the surgery details easier to grasp. Photo: Samantha Harrison
Once a child has watched how a procedure is done, they can get into mini scrubs and rehearse it for themselves, playing the role of doctor. The whole thing becomes less intimidating as the child feels a sense of control.
The puppets come with street clothes and hospital go...