The Teapot Trust, a small charity based near Edinburgh that provides art therapy to children with long term illnesses, has made a short film to encourage young people to be less fearful of blood tests.
The film can be viewed below.
Nina, who was aged just 13 years when the film was made, calmly shows her blood being taken. A great advocate for the fact that needles and blood tests needn’t be scary, she says there really is nothing to worry about.
She was keen to help other children that she had seen at her clinic appointments who were worried about blood tests and what was going to happen. Nina believes that children’s fears can be diminished by seeing exactly what’s involved in a blood test.
Children having blood tests are often given “Magic Cream” to numb the patch of skin where the needle goes in to find the vein, but it takes over 30 minutes to work.
The charity’s founder and the film maker’s mother, Laura Young, said, “During this potentially stressful time, the Teapot Trust’s art therapy projects are helpful, distracting kids whilst they wait for their blood tests. The therapy encourages children to do something enjoyable to take their minds of the situation, rather than worrying about what is going to happen.
Founder Laura Young, who recently won the Tesco Charitable Mum of the Year award.
“We feel honoured that Nina’s blood test footage will be showcased at the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR) Conference taking place in Leeds on September 24 and 25 2014. Nina wants the message to get out to as wide an audience as possible, so this is a great start to getting the message out to a wider audience.”
The Teapot Trust provides different forms of art therapy for children in children’s hospitals and pediatric rheumatology clinics around Scotland and at Rachel House Children’s Hospice. The registered charity has provided over 3,000 art therapy sessions over the last year.
Art therapy as a distraction before tests and appointments is provided via art-as-therapy tables and then, for children with more complex needs the Teapot Trust provides one-to-one art therapy courses. Many of the children the Teapot Trust help need regular blood tests which some children find distressing.
For more information please visit the Teapot Trust website: www.teapot-trust.org
