10 February 2022, Singapore — As part of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s (KKH) commitment to delivering an exceptional healthcare experience to patients and their families, KKH recently furthered their collaboration with The Walt Disney Company by offering staff access to an innovative course hosted by Disney Institute that centered on creating compassionate connections in all areas of the patient experience.
The extensive training course was the first-of-its-kind conducted by Disney Institute outside of the US, and featured sessions specially customised for KKH staff. The sessions focused on creating compassionate connections through three key service principles: Serve with Heart, Reach Higher, and Own It.
“‘Compassion’ is one of KKH’s core values and forms the foundation of how we provide care for our patients and families, as well as for ourselves, our colleagues and the community. To further nurture this KKH spirit of kindness, and emphasise the importance of compassion in healthcare, KKH is collaborating with Disney Institute in this compassion journey.
“We are privileged to be able to learn from the team behind the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’, on how we can create compassionate connections and genuine moments around us,” said Professor Alex Sia, Chief Executive Officer, KKH.
“It is such an honour to be able to give back to the local community in Singapore by sharing almost a century’s worth of experience creating unforgettable memories and consumer connections,” said David Shin, Managing Director, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia, The Walt Disney Company. “Through our initiatives in children’s hospitals, we aim to inspire hope - bringing comfort and optimism to our communities, and delivering joy when it is needed most to patients of all ages.”
Conducted by experienced Disney trainers from the United States, the training sessions were attended by around 5,000 staff and leaders from across the medical, nursing, allied health and administration teams at KKH.
First hospital in Asia to feature interactive Disney murals
KKH is also further enhancing the patient experience by becoming the first hospital in Asia to feature Disney-themed interactive murals aimed at providing comfort and inspiration for children and their families.
The initiative, created in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company, builds on Disney’s long legacy of delivering joy to communities across the globe. The murals are the result of the unparalleled creativity of Walt Disney Imagineers and feature beloved characters from Disney’s iconic brands and franchises, bringing classic stories to life for patients in innovative ways that are designed to reduce the anxiety of a hospital stay.
These murals can be found in the children’s waiting room and at the entrances to select operating theatres. Through the Disney Team of Heroes app, characters from “Star Wars”, “Zootopia,” “The Incredibles,” and “Marvel’s Avengers”, come to life in stories and games, serving to bring joy and comfort to patients ahead of their procedures.
“Surgery can be stressful for anyone, and particularly for children,” said Associate Professor Kevin Lim, Chairman, Division of Surgery, KKH. “These interactive murals have been invaluable for soothing children’s anxieties, transforming the environment around them and bringing a smile to everyone’s faces ahead of their surgery.”
The addition of these interactive murals is an extension of earlier collaborations with The Walt Disney Company that brought murals of familiar characters from Disney’s popular animated film, “Zootopia”, to the hospital’s multi-specialty Clinic K, “Marvel’s Avengers” to the Musculoskeletal Centre, and “Disney Tsum” to the Eye Centre.
Chosen to create a warm and welcoming environment for children as they entered these areas, each franchise corresponds with the average age of the children treated in each clinic.
The interactive murals and innovative training are the latest in a long line of collaborations between KKH and The Walt Disney Company, Singapore, that stretches back to 2013.
