World Orthoptics Day: Our Patch Party
On Monday 2nd of June, we were delighted to support Crosshouse Hospital’s first ever Patch Party! Children aged between 3 and 6, along with their families, were invited along for a morning of fun and celebration.
The Patch Party allowed them to meet other children who wear an eye patch, a form of corrective treatment for Amblyopia (a lazy eye). Parents enjoyed the opportunity to chat to each other, as well as the acute Orthoptics team, who were on hand to answer any questions families may have.
Crosshouse Children’s Fund were proud to support this event by funding craft supplies, games and snacks for the party, which was facilitated by the children’s ward’s Play Specialist, Michelle. Each child was also given a teddy bear, which they could decorate with an eye patch to match their own.
Laura Lindsay, Senior Orthoptist, who led the celebration, shared:
“This was our first time holding a patch party to promote Amblyopia, and the treatments for it. Today gave the children a chance to meet others that have a lazy eye and made them feel more accepted. It can be quite a difficult treatment to do, especially if their vision is particularly bad.
Today was also a chance to give the parents a bit of a support group, allowing them to chat between each other and get to know what kind of things they were doing with their children to encourage compliance to the treatment.”
“Thank you to everyone who has donated to Crosshouse Children’s Fund so that we could make today happen.”
Laura
Not only did our young patients have lots of fun at their Patch Party, the team at Odeon Kilmarnock also kindly gifted a pair of tickets to Disney Pixar’s new film, Elio. The movie, which is in cinemas nationwide from today, centres around a space-obsessed little boy who wears an eye patch. This crucial piece of representation in mainstream media is so important to children who are going through Amblyopia treatment.
Parents were sent a pre-party audit, to gauge an understanding of how often their child wore their patch, and perhaps why they didn’t want to wear it. With comments like “Sees better with patch off” and “Only child in school wearing a patch, so feels different”, it was clear that an event for children wearing a patch would be beneficial.
A post-party evaluation form was then sent out to those who attended, and the feedback was resoundingly positive! Feedback such as “It’s especially helpful for my child to realise she isn’t alone wearing her patch- thank you for today.” showed just important this event was for children to feel comfortable and welcomed.