Enhancing patient and family centered care at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital
Strengthening Patient Care through Ambient Experience
Being in a hospital can be frightening and upsetting, especially for children. They are in a strange place and do not know what to expect. This was the challenge that Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden was facing. They were looking for a pediatric care environment to help lessen the stress of young patients and their families. Philips installed a MRI suite introducing Ambient Experience as well as a KittenScanner, a small scale scanner, used to harness the child’s playfulness and reduce their fear. These solutions contribute to a positive pediatric experience for children, their parents and staff.
This is a good way to sit down with them, and with the parents. You get a calmer patient; you get better contact with the patient. I can really see the difference.”
-Mrs. Johansson, Radiography Nurse,
Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital
Our Approach
Philips deployed a dedicated team that worked with the hospital to plan and deliver the Ambient Experience. Working closely with the hospitals key stakeholders helped Philips to attain key insights. Based on the information gathered from observations and interviews with patients, family, and staff, the Philips team helped create a comfortable, stress-reducing environment by integrating technology, spatial design, and workflow improvements.
Purposefully Designed Healthcare Environment
KittenScanner The Philips team installed the Kitten Scanner (a small scale scanner) which is designed to reduce stress and playfully educate children about the scanning process. As the child scans a toy, a display tells how the scanner works on the figure and why the exam is needed. As children play with the Kitten Scanner, attention is focused on learning and having fun, positively impacting the pediatric experience as well as patient and parent satisfaction
Ambient Experience MRI Suite Ambient Experience integrates architecture, design and enabling technologies, such as dynamic lighting, sound and projections. Before the scan takes place the patient can select a room theme with corresponding sound, personalizing the imaging environment and providing a pleasant distraction for the upcoming examination. This creates a relaxing atmosphere, fostering an improved patient and family centered care environment.
Results
Since the implementation of Ambient Experience, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital has received positive feedback from patients, families and staff. Demand in the department has increased, due to positive word of mouth about the improved pediatric experience. Patients feel more at ease and have a better understanding of the process. Parents agree that the environment is more pleasant and relaxing. Staff has expressed their appreciation for the new technology, preferring the Ambient Experience MRI suite to other MRI machines.
The Ambient Experience Solution has been so successful that other departments within the hospital are looking into how Ambient Experience can help them improve their patient and family centered care experience.
Meet our team
Werner Satter
Business Leader Experience Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Healthcare Transformation Services, PhilipsWerner and his team help hospitals and healthcare systems develop people-centric care solutions to help improve the quality of care delivery. His expertise spans the fields of research, design innovation, new business development, and marketing. Werner has previous experience as a strategic innovation consultant, conducting design innovation programs. He is an acclaimed speaker at healthcare conferences on the topics of healthcare design, people-centric environments, as well as enhancing the patient, family, and staff experience. Werner holds a master's of economics with a specialization in marketing, economic psychology, and sociology.
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