Schooling for children in a hospital

Anna and I had an opportunity to talk to this family, waiting in the lawn of a rural hospital, during one of our visits in 2011.

It is the conversation with the child that challenged me. His father was admitted in the hospital for cerebral Malaria and he was recovering after a prolonged illness and few complications. 

It was the fourth week that this boy was missing his school. He asked me, 'why there is no school in the hospital'? He had to accompany his mother and stay in the hospital, as there was none to take care of him at home, which was thirty five kilometres away from the hospital.

At one of the hospitals, Anna and I worked, there was a day care centre for children who needed long term stay in the hospital. This was most appreciated by children and parents. Since then we tried persuading other hospitals to consider doing this. I owe this insight to late Prof. Malathi Jadhav, who had an occupational therapist fully involved in the children's ward to keep children occupied with learning activities during their hospital stay.

A child, whether a patient or living in the hospital accompanying parents, has a right to education during the hospital stay. To have a facility to welcome children for some learning activities would not need much resources or investment for a hospital. Any hospital having an active children's services ought to include day care facility for children admitted in the hospital. The Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Volunteers with some teaching inclination or spouses of the staff, who have spare time can take a lead in offering this most needed facility.

A child staying or visiting the hospital is still a learner, whose learning instincts and aspirations need attention. It is good to have a small area dedicated for this purpose, away from the acute care facility, where a children's garden can be created. It is possible even to have pets in fenced areas for providing them a variety of experiences.

A hospital ought to become  a school for children. It is one of the useful ways to help them adjust to their illness emotionally and feel the normalcy of the routine, in spite of an illness. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)