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Designers Reduce The Fear Factor
Natalie Thompson inspects her winning design
(Front to back) Sarah Laidler, Natalie Thompson and Wayne Chapman
Three accident and emergency rooms at Darlington Memorial Hospital will become more child friendly after the labours of budding designers at Darlington College of Technology.
A children’s waiting area will be transformed into a huge snakes and ladders game, a design dreamt up by Natalie Thompson. Nearby, the children’s treatment room will become a jungle spectacular courtesy of Sarah Laidler, while an adolescent room will be given the modern graffiti treatment thanks to Wayne Chapman.
Hospital staff chose the three winning designs from a total of nine after they approached the College’s AVCE Art and Design students for help in brightening up the rooms.
With a budget of just £500 they set to their task making the three rooms in A&E more child friendly as a pleasant distraction to the youngsters’ ailments.
A&E consultant Ola Afolabi said: “Hospital can be a very intimidating place for children and what the students have done will help calm them down. Fear affects the psyche and people’s reaction to pain. Looking at the walls will distract them, reduce their anxiety and help them relax so we can discern how much pain they are really in.”
Senior sister Barbara Mennim added: “It will look brilliant. The children will love it and so will the staff.”
The actual work to transform the rooms will be carried out by hospital maintenance staff as soon as possible and use money raised in memory of hospital porter Alec Austin, who died last year.
College tutor Jenny Frost said she was always on the look out for real-life projects to challenge the students. “Their work has been fantastic and set a new benchmark for standards in the department,” she added.
Natalie Thompson, 17, of Newton Aycliffe, who wants to be a set designer, said: “Snakes and ladders is the sort of thing children can identify with because they have the game at home.”
Press Story Number: 651 | Date: 10/09/03 | TAGS: