Most children spend their adolescence riding bikes, hanging out with their friends, and discovering hobbies as they flesh out what kind of young adult they hope to be. Yet many children who’ve either sustained unspeakable trauma or are saddled with a terrible illness tend to miss out on the joys of childhood.
For those seeking treatment at healthcare facilities these days, this is especially true since COVID-19 has drastically restricted patients’ access to visitors both inside and outside the hospital.
But a growing number of patients who are facing this challenge have found an outlet to help channel the frustration and loneliness into creative expression. Through working with art therapists, they’ve been able to create pieces that embody not only what they have difficulty expressing with words, but feelings of anxiety and hopelessness sometimes associated with indefinite hospitalization.
Fifteen-year-old Kayla was one of those individuals who spent months in Sacramento-based UC Davis Children’s Hospital. In tandem with the grueling work that she needed to undertake to heal physically, she worked alongside Katie Lorain, a registered art therapist, to heal emotionally.
While at the facility, Mixtiles — a company whose app allows users to print their photos on tiles that stick and re-stick to the walls — donated hundreds of tiles to the hospital as part of its community outreach efforts. The goal of the initiative was to reach out to those most impacted by COVID-19.
Kayla was one of the dozens of patients who took advantage of the offer. She carefully hand-painted more than 50 ceramic tiles, which were then printed by Mixtiles and displayed in the lobby of the children’s hospital. The gallery now showcases the work of many patients, representing a journey of healing. Patients have also elected to take their work home with them after being discharged, meaning that pieces on the hospital walls are constantly evolving.
“Mixtiles helped make these children feel at home and aided their emotional wellbeing as they endured countless procedures and treatments,” Lorain explained. “Finding a role and identity outside of being a patient is critical. Mixtiles allowed them to do that. When they create this art, they are in control and they work independently. Mixtiles, then, allows them to showcase that work in a meaningful way.”
“I wanted to help,” Mixtiles co-founder Eytan Levit said of the company’s 2020 initiative to donate thousands of tiles to hospitals across the United States. “Healthcare facilities were ground zero when it came to damage caused by COVID and I wanted Mixtiles to help make the lives of patients and those who treat them a little easier and certainly more colorful.”
Levit was inspired by an email he received a few years ago from a young woman who was on a waitlist to receive a lung transplant. While most of her peers were going to the mall and studying for their driver’s license, she was in the hospital awaiting an organ that would save her life.
To fill the lonely, sparse, and austere hospital room, she ordered dozens of Mixtiles and covered every square inch with images of the people she loved — with the idea that if they couldn’t physically be there with her, at least she would feel their presence and wouldn’t feel so alone.
“She told me how she filled that room with love and how that made her days a bit more bearable,” Levit recalled.
The entrepreneur was forever changed by that email and realized the emotional impact his product could have on recipients.
“It made me realize we can really make a difference in people’s lives. When they’re down, our fun little product can improve things,” he said.
Reaching out to hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, then, was a natural choice considering how lonely many patients are since (in some healthcare facilities) they are often only allowed one caretaker to come visit them.
“Before COVID a lot of these patients would develop friendships, do playgroups and take part in meetups which created a sense of community,” Kaley Wajcman, an art therapist at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, added.
Children’s Mercy was another hospital that worked with Mixtiles and experienced the impact that the donation of tiles had on patients’ wellbeing.
“We have found that having family photos around really lifts our spirits and makes our daughter’s hospital room feel a little brighter,” said Rachel Wilson, whose daughter, Caroline, is a patient at Children’s Mercy. “I was so excited when our Mixtiles arrived, but I was surprised that my daughter was equally excited. Her face lit up when she saw the pictures and kept pointing to them and repeatedly saying her brother’s name. Some days of hospital living are very challenging, but our Mixtiles keep us surrounded and reminded of the happy times.”
With COVID-19 still very much a presence in our lives, Mixtiles is continuing to expand this initiative. After making the donations to several hospitals in 2020, the company plans to have Mixtiles hanging in some 3,000 hospital rooms in 2021.
PHOTO CAPTION: Fifteen-year-old Kayla (pictured at right), who spent months in UC Davis Children’s Hospital, hand-painted ceramic tiles which were then printed by Mixtiles and displayed in the lobby of the hospital. Credit: UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
photo courtesy of author