Healthmark Industries, Avanti Press and Fathead have together created themed areas featuring whimsical, universally relatable Avanti animal characters in designated locations at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where children might be more apprehensive for care, including the surgery waiting room area, along with some patient rooms and clinics. In addition, PPE themed scrub caps with these happy Avanti animal characters are being provided to staff in the children’s operating room areas to help create a fun distraction for children in preparation for surgery. Children will also be able to select animal character themed stickers which they can use as a badge of courage on patient gowns, IV bags, PICC line sleeves, casts and other areas. All images are being provided by Avanti Press, the Detroit-based publisher whose humorous characters are featured on greeting cards and numerous consumer goods sold nationwide and around the world. Avanti’s bright, bold, photographic characters are featured in select areas of the hospital to help alleviate stress for children undergoing treatment.
Healthmark Industries envisioned this as a way to provide children with a fun, calming distraction within a hospital, doctor’s office or dentist’s office and would allow them to create a bond with hospital teams and focus on something other than their illness.
“Michigan based, Avanti Press was the perfect fit for this objective,” said Ralph Basile, Healthmark Industries vice president of marketing and regulatory affairs. Their upbeat character humor connects with people young and old, from all walks of life. Avanti’s Licensing Agency, Lisa Marks Associates, saw the opportunity and helped bring us together to develop a meaningful program that would put a smile on patients’ faces.”
Healthmark Industries, having worked in the past with Fathead to create their bigger than life signage for hospital staff messaging, knew it was a natural that these three companies would select a Michigan based children’s hospital (University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital). “To test this new concept to determine what resonates with pediatric patients and make them comfortable in an unfamiliar environment,” said Basile.
“We currently design a variety of PPE for hospitals and have incorporated versions that allow staff (when permissible) to include individual images on scrub caps, which allows them to showcase their personality. We thought this was a natural opportunity to be able to extend this to health care workers interacting with children in environments that may help the child feel less apprehensive and more at ease in various health care environments they aren’t accustomed to,” said Basile.
2/28/22 Fathead stickers at Mott Hospital.
“C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital is grateful for these generous donations from Healthmark Industries, Avanti Press and Fathead,” said Luanne Thomas Ewald, chief operating officer, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital. “Hospitals can seem intimidating to children, and these joyful images in our halls and on the scrub caps of providers can offer some comfort and happiness for patients and families. During times of fear or uncertainty, something fun can make the difference.”
The businesses came together to develop this concept and approached the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital to test this concept on a complimentary basis. Based upon feedback, the concept will be offered to other hospitals, physicians, dental and veterinary establishments to purchase for their health care environments.
“We are thrilled to support this project,” said Chip Owen, executive vice president for Avanti Press. “We hope our characters help to brighten the day for patients, family and staff at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.”
“We, at Fathead, truly believe that transforming spaces can bring warmth into an environment and create comforting spaces, ” said Tony Saunders, owner & CEO of Fathead. “Our high-quality decals/decor dovetail well with Healthmark Industries mission and we are grateful to be a part of this empowering opportunity. What better way to help ease the anxiety of a child in the hospital than creating larger than life designs that bring light into the hospital environment.”
The three companies will work with University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital to evaluate response and gain input from patients, as they move forward with this concept introducing it to other locations.
