If you are a patient at the hospital, please ask your health care professional (specialists, doctors, nurses, social workers) to send a referral form to the Indigenous Health team via CST or email it to indigenoushealthreferral@cw.bc.ca.
Referrals from a health care professional are not required. You and your family can self-refer by sending an email to our team by:
You can learn more about Indigenous Health at BC Children’s Hospital here.
The Sibling Support Centre provides safe, short-term sibling support (up to two hours in the centre) with play in a creative setting for siblings who are on campus while their brother or sister is in care or receiving care. The centre is a non-licensed, volunteer-supported environment that supports children or youth that are ages three and older. One volunteer will play with up to four children at a time. All children visiting the centre must be toilet-trained and able to feed themselves.
The centre has age-appropriate learning activities such as:
The centre will also provide a single-serve nutritional snack, for children who may wish to have a healthy snack break during their stay.
Volunteers will work to help reduce the fear and anxiety siblings may have about their brother or sister’s hospital stay and alleviate wait-time stress on families or siblings.
The Sibling Support Centre is a new centre created from the generous donations from the BC Children’s & Women’s foundations and auxiliaries. With the support of donors and the many partners who have supported this work for more than four years, the centre is now in it's pilot phase.
The centre is located on the ground floor by the connector to the Shaughnessy building, close to the Cafeteria. The nearest entrance is #93, from Women’s Hospital.
Volunteer Navigators are stationed at all entranceways and can assist families in locating the centre.
Hours
The centre’s pilot hours are Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays), 8:45 am - 3:15 pm.
The centre’s scheduled available times are:
Certified Child LiIfe Specialists (CCLS) at BC Children’s Hospital make hospitalization a more positive experience for patients through play, therapeutic interventions, preparation and creative arts.
Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) promote coping through various interventions to help children, youth and families with stressful life events. Play and other normalizing activities help with this coping process. Child life programs endeavor to meet each family’s unique emotional and social needs.
The following services and activities are available through the department:
Child Life Department is partnered with the Creative Art Program and Pet Therapy Program to further support the needs of patients.
Child Life should be alerted of a patient’s need for support prior to hospital admission or outpatient visit. This can be done by asking a health care professional to complete a referral form and email it to childyouththerapeuticservicesadmin@cw.bc.ca.
Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) at BC Children’s Hospital make hospitalization a more positive experience for patients through play, therapeutic interventions, preparation and creative arts.
The BC Children's Hospital Heart Hub is a clinically reliable and accurate online resource for patients and families living with congenital and acquired heart disease.
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