Teddy Bear Medicine: Project Aims to Ease Kids’ Fear of Medical Equipment

One girl used a stethoscope to check the lungs of a teddy bear set up at an exam table. The furry friend was among other kid-friendly test subjects at a Hands on Health workshop held Saturday in Spokane.

AnnaLia Lupinacci, 8, performed that teddy checkup, later confirmed by her sister Giulia, 3. Both were among children attending the two-hour session with activities and art projects aimed at making children feel less frightened by medical equipment and procedures.

Two college students, Amy Marable and Christine Stewart, created the event for a senior project in the Eastern Washington University’s Children’s Studies program. Both have completed EWU studies remotely – Marable from Shoreline, Wash., and Stewart from Issaquah, Wash. – but they were in Spokane this weekend to run the clinic.