A new virtual reality app has been launched to support over 10,000 children a year who have planned surgery at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
The app allows children to explore everything from the waiting area to the operating theatre to help prepare and familiarise themselves for their visit.
The Little Journey smartphone app has animated doctors, nurses and anaesthetists to show children around the hospital and explain what happens when you come to the hospital for surgery. Characters such as a koala nurse and a rhinoceros doctor pop up to answer questions and talk through what happens in each area.
The app is available free of charge and is aimed at children, young people and their families who are due to go to the hospital for surgery.
Dr Nina Plant, consultant paediatric anaesthetist at Sheffield Children’s, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this app to patients of all ages.”
“The run up to having surgery can be a stressful time– this wonderful app allows patients and families to understand what will happen when they come to the hospital and what it looks like before they come in. We hope that this will educate patients and families about the process, lower stress and anxiety when they come in for surgery. Overall, we hope it makes their experience here easier and more relaxed.”
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with app designers Little Sparks to launch the Little Journey app for children and young people aged 3 to 16 coming to the hospital for surgery.
Little Journey provides 360 degree views of all of the areas patients will visit at the hospital, as well as videos talking through what happens when they come in for surgery, tailored to the child’s age. There is also a parents section to help prepare the whole family for the theatre journey with extra practical information and checklists, and even a breathing exercise to help everyone relax.
The app is free to download from Google Play or the App Store.
