Child Health - A Serious Challenge

In May 2017, over 130 employees of UMC Utrecht met the challenge to follow the simulated life rules of a chronically ill adolescent for a period of two weeks, under the title: Child Health – A Serious Challenge. The challenge offered the employees of UMC Utrecht more insights into what it is like to be a chronically ill patient.

Experiencing chronic illness

Imagine being a child or adolescent with diabetes, cystic fibrosis, or a metabolic disorder. Although outwardly you may appear well, a carefree life is often no longer possible if you are suffering from a chronic disease. You may have to count calories, inject glucose, you have to take pills, you have to keep to a diet, you must get sufficient exercise, sleep well, etc. Doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists—they all think with you, yet they also very much want you to do as they say, “because it is for your own good.”

Simulating care trajectories

However, do practitioners also understand what it is really like to have such a chronic disease themselves? Employees of UMC Utrecht tried to answer this question. Not only those “on the shop floor” participated, but also the Executive Board of UMC Utrecht met the challenge.

The result of this challenge

The goal of the challenge was to gain greater insight into the patient-perspective, to better understand the issues patients encounter when following a course of therapy, and to experience in practice why it is often hard for (especially, young) patients to adhere to therapy regimes. Employees of UMC Utrecht became aware of the effort involved when following a treatment plan to the letter.