Reducing healthcare anxiety in children with medical play: assessing effectiveness of the teddy bear bash

Medical anxiety is common in the pediatric population. Anxiety may trigger persistent negative emotions regarding medical care, cause decreased cooperation during procedures, and lead to higher reports of post-procedure pain. Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) events may reduce pediatric anxiety related to health care visits by providing exposure to medical professionals and simulating procedures in a play environment. Literature on the effectiveness of such events is currently limited. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a TBH-modelled event, the Teddy Bear Bash, in reducing pediatric reports of medical anxiety. In a prospective cohort study, we surveyed 69 parents/guardians and 68 children during attendance at the Teddy Bear Bash in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Surveys were completed pre-event, immediately post-event, and 4 weeks after the event. Surveys assessed comfort level with medical care, reasons for medical anxiety, and improvements in either post-event. 74.4% of parents/guardians reported subjective improvement in their child’s medical anxiety post-event, with 34.9% of these identifying a lasting change at 4-week follow-up. A statistically significant positive change in pediatric reports of feelings towards health care workers was demonstrated post-event (Z = -3.002, p = 0.003). Fears related to medical appointments in the pediatric population were decreased post-event, most markedly in concerns related to receiving an injection (a 31% decrease in percent responses). However, improvement of anxiety-related behaviours during medical appointments post-event was not clearly elicited. Our findings suggest the Teddy Bear Bash is beneficial in promoting subjective reports of decreased medical-related anxiety in children. Exposure to the Teddy Bear Bash encourages a positive change in feelings toward health care workers by pediatric participants. These findings can likely be extrapolated to other TBH-type events.