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Does the 'Teddy Bear Hospital' enhance preschool children's knowledge? A pilot study with a pre/post-case control
Corinna Leonhardt1, Jutta Margraf-Stiksrud2, Larissa Badners2
1Philipps University of Marburg, Germany leonhar3@staff.uni-marburg.de.
Insights
The German Teddy Bear Hospital significantly improved preschool children's understanding of their body, health, and disease. This project serves as an effective health education tool for young children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Education
- Medical Student Community Projects
Background:
- The 'Teddy Bear Hospital' is a growing international initiative.
- Medical students engage children in simulated healthcare settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of a German Teddy Bear Hospital.
- To assess effects on preschool children's knowledge of body, health, and disease.
Main Methods:
- Quasi-experimental pre/post design.
- 131 preschool children from 14 kindergartens participated.
- Pictorial interview-based scales were used for assessment.
Main Results:
- Children attending the Teddy Bear Hospital showed significantly improved knowledge.
- Compared to a control group, participants demonstrated better understanding of health concepts.
- Analysis of covariance confirmed the positive effect.
Conclusions:
- The German Teddy Bear Hospital is an effective health education strategy.
- This initiative enhances preschool children's health literacy.
- The project demonstrates value in community-based health promotion.
Abstract:
The 'Teddy Bear Hospital' is a medical students' project, which has been increasingly established in many countries. To evaluate this concept, we examined the effects of a German Teddy Bear Hospital on children's knowledge relating to their body, health and disease. Using a quasi-experimental pre/post design, we examined 131 preschool children from 14 German kindergartens with pictorial interview-based scales. The analysis of covariance revealed that the children who visited the Teddy Bear Hospital had a significantly better knowledge concerning their body, health and disease than the children from the control group. This German Teddy Bear Hospital is a good health education vehicle for preschool children.
