Project at clinic

Dolls to paint for brave little patients

Nurse Claudia (left) helps paint the first doll.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Neue Heimat Tirol has been won as a sponsor for a great project at the Innsbruck Children's Hospital. There, the brave little patients can paint rag dolls and forget their illness for a while. The integration company Artis was commissioned with the production.

The Innsbruck Children's Hospital cares for more than 6500 young patients every year. For all those who have to spend months with the doctors and nurses due to a serious illness, the rooms become a second home. This is very stressful for both the children and their parents.

To make the stay as pleasant as possible for the little ones, there are other great initiatives in addition to the hospital clowns. One of these is the painting of white rag dolls. "This project was started a few years ago," explains Children's Hospital Director Thomas Müller. Like any other project, the rag dolls need someone to fund them and someone to carry them out.

Lisa Ridl (left) from Artis handed over the first dolls to the two nurses Anna (center) and Claudia.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Neue Heimat Tirol won as a sponsor
The "Freunde der Kinderklinik Innsbruck" association, which has been supporting families with seriously ill children since 2015 and has been cooperating with "Netzwerk Tirol hilft" since 2023, was able to secure Neue Heimat Tirol (NHT) as a sponsor. The non-profit housing developer is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year. "Instead of spending a lot of money on a birthday party, we decided to support a social project," say the two NHT managing directors Markus Pollo and Johannes Tratter, explaining further: "We both had children in our family who had to endure long hospital stays."

After a short search, they came across the rag doll project. "By supporting this initiative, we want to help give young patients a little bit of joy during their stay."

The first 1000 white rag dolls were delivered.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Through the creative activity, the children forget their illness.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

"Taking away children's fear and giving them hope"
"We are delighted that we have been able to gain the NHT as a supporter of this important initiative. This is a strong signal that shows how valuable even the little things are when it comes to taking away children's fear and giving them hope," says Jürgen Beilein, chairman of the association.

As Nursing Director Adelheid Bauernfeind emphasizes, "the children can forget their illness for a short time and live out their creativity while painting the dolls". When the brave patients leave the clinic, they can take their dolls home with them. "Many are happy that they can take a lasting, positive memory from the clinic with them."

By painting the dolls, the children can forget their illness for a short time and express their creativity.

Adelheid Bauernfeind

Artis-Integrations gemGmbH commissioned with production
The rag dolls are produced by Artis-Integrations gemGmbH, an integration company of pro mente Tirol. Lisa Ridl is the specialist head of the work area at Artis: "We help people recovering from mental illness or crises with specialist and socio-therapeutic support to prepare them for the challenges of the job market. We are really pleased to have been asked to take part in this project."

NHT CEO Markus Pollo (left) and Johannes Tratter (right) with Thomas Müller (Head of Children's Hospital).

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The first 1000 pieces have arrived at the clinic
The first 1000 white rag dolls were delivered on Tuesday. Two little patients were able to receive them in the day room, give free rein to their creativity and paint them.

As the nurses Anna and Claudia say, "we also need lots of colored pencils for the painting" and invite other facilities to take part in the project, which makes the little eyes light up for a few hours.