Introduction: As a community we can do a lot to help, and everyone has their own little part in that. Our way of helping is to help children in hospitals, and seeing how we can make them feel less isolated, and more wanted. There are people who are battling a disease everyday and neither us, nor them may know it until it is more noticeable.Currently with hospitals they have a certain amount of children they can host for a certain amount of time. At most hospitals they don't have many books, board games, or activities. So while the people who come in to volunteer have fun with them for a while, when they eventually leave the children become lonely again. Then they must return back to their sad hospital rooms. With all of the sick children my group believes that every child and every adult should have a chance to feel like they are important and a priority. My group would like to have a book drive to help the children cope with being stuck in a boring hospital room with no form of entertainment. Sadly many are living in boredom due to no exposure to the outside world. We believe the books and games will give the kids something to keep them occupied, as well as serve as an escape from a lot of their pain. My group is interested in this topic because we feel that the children should not be isolated and treated different than someone without a disease. We also believe that people should care about this issue is because nobody should be mistreated because they have an illness. My group wants to make the kids at Wake Medical feel like they have a purpose. The Issue: Unfortunately, most hospitals don’t have libraries or any other ways to cure their patient’s boredom. When kids get very sick and end up in a hospital, at times that can result in boredom, loneliness, and feeling of isolation. There are also little global organizations to help solve this problem, and it is usually overlooked. Usually,this issue affects the children in the hospital because they are more prone to boredom. 82% of all hospital stays are children, yet people are not trying to make the children feel as comfortable as possible. In the United States there are approximately 7,000 different diseases and there are about 30 million people in the U.S dealing with one of these. This is about 1 out of 10 or 10% of the population that has to deal with one of the many diseases. Only 900 hospitals have forms of entertainment for these children. This has only been an issue for a small amount of time, since large budget cuts have been made to medical institutions. Children are becoming isolated because their diseases are making them at times can prevent them from interaction of any sort, and most of them can’t go outside due to their illness. This makes the children upset, and can damage their health even further. Leaving this issue and not solving it can and will lead to unhappy children. The Solution: In North Carolina there is a lot that is being done to help create a less isolated environment for children in the hospitals. At wakeMed, there are a handful of programs that have already started resolving this issue. Not only can you make a donation, but you can volunteer, organize a fundraiser, or become a sponsor. All of this can really make a difference. The money they earn from the different events that are hosted usually goes to research. While the research is very important and helpful, we believe the children in the hospitals would also really enjoy some things to help entertain them and make their stay more enjoyable. This is still a problem in our community because most of the money goes to funding research, this causes the hospitals to not have the funds to buy new books or games. As a group we believe that if the children had more entertaining items that the kids would feel less isolated. Also having these books, toys, or board games could easily make them feel more included, or active. Since most kids enjoy playing games, reading, and playing with toys having these books and games could really make the children in hospitals feel more connected. Especially if these kids played with these toys or read these books before being put in the hospitals. The Conclusion: Everyone can give a helping hand. Count yourself lucky that you’re not in this situation, but that doesn’t mean you should just blow it off. There are so many ways to do so! You could volunteer at hospitals with your friends, have fundraisers for children, donate, sponsor, and in our case, host a book drive. Soon, our group will be holding a book drive at WakeMed, for the children in the hospital, at the end of may. We will be collecting old/new books and board games to donate to WakeMed, so that the children there will get some exposure to new people, new friends and new ideas. Our plan? Its easy to find out. We’ve got the supplies taken care of, and the books and games ready to go. all YOU need to do is go there and show them you care. go there with your class, or just a group of friends, and pick up a book to read with them or just play a game with them. By doing this, we are accomplishing the happiness of isolated, unhappy, and to them, forgotten, kids by proving that they should never give up hope, or stop believing in themselves, through books and just let everyone at WakeMed know that they have a friend in us. bibliography:
“WakeMed foundation” WakeMed <https://www.wakemedfoundation.org/impact> “WakeMed children's hospital” WakeMed <http://www.wakemed.org/childrens-hospital> “Care of Children and Adolescents in U.S. Hospitals”Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality <https://archive.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk4/factbk4.htm>
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDiyaaaa Archives
May 2017
Categories |