Young patients at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. (UHNBC) now have a special place to relax and de-stress.
The Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation has opened an adolescent calming room in the UHNBC pediatrics department.
The calming room is a therapeutic environment which assists both children and youth with their self-calming efforts by offering them a relaxing environment during stressful situations.
The space is designed to calm the senses allowing youth to experience soothing visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli.
“It is so heartwarming to see the Adolescent Calming Room functional and ready to welcome children during times of crisis to de-escalate and emotionally re-set” said Judy Neiser, CEO of Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation.
“This room development has been long time coming, and the first calming room within UHNBC that has been funded through the generosity of donors who believe in therapeutic ways to assess and soothe mental health and wellness patients. The need for these was evident pre-COVID and has only increased during the past two years,” said Neiser.
“The Adolescent Calming Room will provide therapy by creating both a soothing and stimulating environment that engages the senses through the use of lights, color, sounds, and tactile objects.”
Other design elements in the room focus on creating an area of low stimulus while providing mindfulness and destressing activities for children to focus on.
This includes the use of weighted blankets, bean bag chairs, cubes that light up, projector that changes scenes based on the child’s needs, large water filled tube with dancing bubbles and color changes and sounds that mirror the elements displayed in the room including nature and water elements.
The project was funded by donors of the annual Spirit Day Campaign and the culmination of a focus placed on mental health and wellness.
The 2022 Spirit Day returns Thursday, May 5 and is a signature fundraiser for Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation.
Funds received through this annual campaign can be designated to any area of the donors choosing, including mental health and wellness which funded the Adolescent Calming Room.
