When a child is stuck in a hospital bed, their interactions can be limited. Family and friends may visit, but with pediatric hospital bed occupancy at a high, collective waiting time grows between procedures.

Braxton Bitsoi, Patient Technology Manager for Primary Children’s Hospital, sought and found a solution to this problem – interactive gaming experiences.

“Two things get taken away from patients: autonomy and peer connection,” said Braxton. “Interactive games are the best way for us to give those back to our inpatient children.”

The Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City originally started with an in-hospital TV channel, full of game shows, prizes, and programming to view together. Then through a generous donation, all 250 rooms received an Xbox with over 100 online games. Inpatient children can play with each other across the hospital, and with friends and family at home.

“It's really important to still be a part of their social groups at home,” said Braxton. “We built up this program to enable them to have that autonomy and that connection.”

The difference between active and passive engagement was a key to this program. Playing games such as Minecraft can help patients learn math, processing skills, and time management. When kids unlock a skin in Fortnite, they feel like they’re progressing.

“If kids are just staring at TV, watching Nickelodeon for 18 hours a day between procedures, it can be detrimental to their care,” said Braxton. “Getting them outside of the room, even if it’s just in their head, is super important.”

Being able to game with other inpatient children is a unique plus to the program. They can play with and meet each other, building long-lasting relationships.

Primary Children’s Hospital is also starting a League of Alumni Gamer (LAG) program, where former long-term patients can stay on the network, playing with current patients. This will help patients undergoing hospitalization interact with others who have gone through, and healed from, similar health experiences.

“When we link a chemo patient with a patient who just finished with chemo, it shows them the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Braxton. “That’s one of the most empowering things about our program – they’re hearing from someone going through the same thing at the same age.”

The program recently added robots as well, where inpatient children can control and see from a walking robot miles away at a museum, an aquarium, and even their own graduation. This allows interactive experiences they may have missed otherwise.

According to Braxton, the Primary Children’s Hospital is the first hospital in the world to provide inpatient online gaming, inaccessible to strangers. The program provides a safe place to play and feel stronger together.

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