Young patients at Yeovil Hospital have been making a positive impact on the lives of those around the hospital, with their personally decorated Patient Pebbles.
Yeovil Hospital’s Nursey Nurse Charlotte Drayton started the project after realising the positive impact art could have on the patients’ wellbeing. After having one creative workshop on the ward where the young patients painted positive affirmations onto rocks, it was clear that they enjoyed and responded well to the activity.
Charlotte Drayton said: “The idea is that the children and adolescents on the ward decorate the pebbles as a way of engaging and expressing themselves. I intended to use the initiative for our young adults admitted with mental health concerns as I feel it would be an ideal way for them to share their hopes and creativity with the patients and visitors at Yeovil Hospital.”
The rocks have been tagged with the hashtag #YDHPatientPebble and are placed in a designated area in the hospital’s canteen garden for staff, patients or visitors of the hospital to discover, keep or share with someone they know who needs cheering up.
Charlotte Drayton added: “This project has given our adolescent patients the chance to get out of their beds and rooms and make a real difference in someone else’s life. A lot of young people think they are the only ones who feel the way they do, but by helping and decorating the rocks, they have realised that they are not alone in how they feel, helping them break down their stigmas around their mental health. The project has also helped them manage their own time while allowing the staff to bond with the patients who ordinarily wouldn’t be so forthcoming beforehand.”
This is not the first self-care project that Yeovil Hospital has run, ‘Self-care kits’ were created to encourage patients to manage their challenges and care for themselves in a positive manner outside of the Trust.
There is hope that the #YDHPatientPebble initiative will grow and encourage people to shine a little positivity into each other’s lives, making their day that little bit brighter.
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Categorised in: Trust news and events
This post was written by Communications Team
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