TORONTO – The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) will now be able to incorporate interactive technology into patient treatment, thanks to the Child Life Interactive Computers for Kids (CLICK) program.
Microsoft Canada, through its partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network, will launch the program at SickKids Thursday in an effort to help the hospital’s young patients regain some normalcy throughout their stay.
“Children, to get some sense of normalcy, need to be able to play. They need to be able to engage,” said Michael Hilliard, senior corporate counsel at Microsoft Canada.
“I was in hospital years ago and at the time we just had a play room and a book room. But now through the use of technology you can actually keep the child engaged in what’s going on in the world.”
Launched in 2005, the CLICK program allow patients to have access to the latest in technology to help them stay connected to family and friends during their hospitalization and aims to reduce stress and anxiety for those undergoing treatment.
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Through the program, Microsoft provides funds for hospitals to purchase devices such as laptops with HD webcams for Skype, TVs and DVD players, Xbox consoles and games, and Windows Surface tablets.
Along with tablets that will allow kids to surf the web and play games at their bedside, SickKids will also receive Xbox One consoles and Kinect cameras.
“We hear stories about how kids are sometimes resistant to do their physiotherapy, but you put a Kinect in front of them and they are happy to jump up and start playing.”
Microsoft will also provide a Child Life Specialist to SickKids to help design individual and group programming for the kids to teach them how to integrate the technology into their recovery or treatment plan.
Patients can also use Microsoft programs like Skype to feel close to home.
“A lot of the children who come to children’s hospitals travel a long distance and as a result they are cut off from their families and friends. The great thing about some of our online services like Skype is that they are able to interact,” Hilliard said.
“So while they are not getting real hugs, they are getting virtual hugs.”
The CLICK program is already being implemented in the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire du Quebec in Quebec City, the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, IWK Health Centre in Halifax, and McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton.
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