LONDON, ON – The Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre is the first hospital in southwestern Ontario to launch an innovative social networking tool that helps its young hospital inpatients stay connected to their families, friends and school.
The Children’s Hospital, together with Kids’ Health Links Foundation, Children’s Health Foundation and Telus Health, today announced the launch of Upopolis, a secure social network designed for children receiving care in hospitals.
Upopolis provides familiar features of social networking, such as personal profiles, micro-blogging, instant chat, group chats, multiple photo uploading and event calendars. In addition, the platform gives patients the opportunity to stay up-to-date with their schoolwork, navigate through child-friendly health and wellness information and connect children with similar experiences and interests.
“We look forward to welcoming Upopolis to Children’s Hospital, and in keeping with our family-centred approach to health care, we are happy that Upopolis will offer our patients child-friendly toolkits to help with education, diversion and preparation for medical procedures,” said Laurie Gould, executive vice-president, patient care, London Health Science Centre, in a release.
“Social networks and technology are a ubiquitous part of the lives of many Canadian children today and young patients also want the opportunity to stay connected while receiving care,” said Paul Lepage, president, Telus Health. “Upopolis empowers children in care and gives them the opportunity to network and share experiences, thoughts and feelings with other kids under similar circumstances, fostering a community of support. We are thrilled to launch such an innovative program for young patients in southwestern Ontario for the first time.”
The online support network was inspired by the hospital experiences of two teenaged friends, Christina Papaevangelou and Katy McDonald. In February 2002, Papaevangelou was admitted to McMaster Children's Hospital with a life-threatening illness. Shortly after, McDonald was diagnosed with cancer and had to be hospitalized for a long period of time at The Hospital for Sick Children. McDonald lost her battle with cancer, however the girls’ friendship and common experiences inspired Papaevangelou to explore ways of helping children in care stay connected.
The first Upopolis program was launched in 2007 at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton. Since then it has expanded to eight additional hospitals and health organizations across Canada, including B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver; IWK Health Centre in Halifax; CHEO in Ottawa; The Hospital for Sick Children and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Ste. Justine in Montreal, and Lutherwood in Waterloo.
