To save families the burden of rushing out to gather supplies, one of the provided comfort resources is overnight care packages. These include everyday necessities like shampoos, conditioners, body soaps, toothbrushes, toothpastes, playing cards, mints, notepads/pens, and encouragement cards from elementary students.
We have presented to two local elementary schools and instructed the students to create encouragement cards with various preselected phrases. In total, we have collected 375 cards.
CARE PACKAGES
COMFORT RESOURCES
LOCAL SERVICE LISTS
CARE PACKAGES
In the hospital waiting rooms, we placed local service lists that we created which contain the address, telephone number and operating hours of different services in the area, such as transportation, spiritual services, lodging, and restaurants. This will assist family members with on-hand information if they are not familiar with the local area.
BLANKETS
We purchased blankets to be used by the families of patients in the waiting rooms, in which we embroidered with our project logo. Why? According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, 43.5% of families reported poor/very poor sleep during their wait at the hospital.
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We are hoping the blankets will provide a much more comfortable atmosphere and sleeping environment for the patients' loved ones.
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The blankets would be washed by the laundry room at the hospital.
ENTERTAINMENT
In the hospital waiting rooms, we have various means of entertainment for the patients families' as they wait. We have provided a bundle of books and magazines donated from a local magazine distributor. Along with magazines, each overnight bag contains playing cards with game instructions that we created. Why? According to cognitive neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis, reading a magazine can reduce stress levels by nearly 60%.