Help! My child is afraid of the hospital…
A hospital visit can be overwhelming: bright lights, unfamiliar people, strange smells and sounds, unusual equipment and materials, nerve-wracking examinations… Fortunately, tools like little NIRVANA exist to reduce anxiety and stress. Discover how you can support your child during medical procedures with comfort care and innovative technology.
What is comfort care for children?
Comfort care is all about reducing anxiety, pain and stress in children during medical procedures such as blood draws, vaccinations, dental treatments… This is done by, among other things:
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Giving control: letting your child remove a plaster or disinfect the skin themselves, for example.
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Using anaesthetics: for example a plaster with numbing cream for needle procedures.
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Applying child-centred communication: caregivers respond to emotional needs and calmly explain what is happening.
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Using technology: offering distraction via VR or augmented reality (AR), as with little NIRVANA.
Little NIRVANA: dealing playfully with fear of medical procedures
Little NIRVANA uses augmented reality to take children into a magical world. AR is a technology that adds digital images and information to the real world. Via TV screens with 3D hologram or AR glasses, the child is fully immersed in this experience. During needle procedures or dental visits, it reduces anxiety through interactive games and breathing exercises.
How does little NIRVANA work?
Your child sees Milo, a friendly bird, in a calming forest via a 3D screen or glasses.
Your child then receives a magic wand or belly cradle that respond to your child's breathing. Calm breathing activates magical multisensory games. Senses such as seeing, hearing and smelling are stimulated to maximise distraction.
When your child actively participates, new interactions and new animated characters appear in the game for your child to play with further.
Little Nirvana takes place in a calming forest environment that evolves as your child interacts with it. Children are accompanied by Milo – the main character – who radiates trust and calm.
Your child receives a magic wand or belly cradle that works in a multisensory and interactive way. Both stimulate breathing exercises and engage other senses: feeling, seeing, smelling…
With the magic wand, children can conjure up animals and figures when they make calming movements. The belly cradle offers other functionalities, similar to a PlayStation controller.
Because your child actively participates, new interactions and new animated characters emerge in the game with which your child can further communicate.
How do parents experience little NIRVANA?
A satisfaction survey among more than 300 children, parents and caregivers shows that parents, children and caregivers are very satisfied with little NIRVANA. They find that anxiety in their child before and during the procedure or treatment strongly decreases through its use.
In the video below, you will discover how Veronik, mother of 6-year-old Lars, experienced the little NIRVANA journey.
Questions about little NIRVANA?
What are the benefits of little Nirvana?
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Through active participation, your child maintains control and there is less anxiety.
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Breathing exercises help both child and parent stay calm.
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As a parent, you can continue to communicate with your child throughout the entire procedure and play the games together.
Meet Milo from little NIRVANA
We are happy to prepare your child for a visit to the hospital or dentist. Let your child get to know Milo and the game via this website or install the app on your smartphone or tablet straight away.
Extra information about dealing with fear of hospital in children
Need more information and practical tips to help you and your child prepare for a hospital admission or medical procedure? In collaboration with UZ Leuven, we created an e-learning in which you can learn more about:
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anxiety in children: how to recognise it and what the consequences are
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how you can support your child
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what tools are available in the hospital
Where is little NIRVANA available?
Is your hospital or dentist not yet using little NIRVANA? Share the link to our website with them and bring it up in conversation. That way they will get to know little NIRVANA too and we contribute to optimal comfort care for every child.
Check availability at your hospital