Little Journey

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Little Journey

A virtual reality app co-designed with patients, parents and healthcare professionals to help reduce perioperative anxiety for children and their families.

At a young age, children are likely to face extreme anxiety during their visit to hospital, experiencing fear of the clinical environment, unfamiliar people and the fear of pain itself. We want to revolutionise the way children experience hospitals, empowering them and giving them the opportunity to have fun.

14/11/2025

Is needle fear contagious? 💉

In October we took part in the Freaky Phobias event at Thackray Museum of Medicine to explore this question with children and their caregivers.

Everyone shared their own stories, experiences, and opinions - turns out the votes were pretty evenly split!

We also ran other fun activities to get people thinking about needle fear and possible ways to ease it, including:

- Which phrases are most helpful when supporting your child?
- Guess-the-syringes competition
- Sharing tips and resources for comforting children during medical procedures
- Buddy decorating station, and more

A huge thank you to the wonderful team at Thackray Museum for welcoming us, and all the families who engaged with us. Getting out into the community helps us to gather valuable insights so we continue to build tools that meet real needs for real families 🌟

What do you think, can needle fear spread? Let us know in the comments below 👇

-creation

04/11/2025

This , we’re proud to stand alongside organisations championing accessibility and inclusion.

At Little Journey, we’re continuously working to ensure our solution is accessible to everyone, from aligning with WCAG AA standards to helping every child share their voice with A Little About Me, ensuring all children have access to the tools they need to feel empowered in their healthcare journey.

Accessibility is an ongoing commitment at Little Journey. As we continue to evolve, we’ll keep listening, learning, and improving to make hospital experiences more inclusive for every child.

Purple Tuesday

06/10/2025

focuses on raising awareness about the importance of health and well-being of children, including both their physical and mental health.

At the heart of what we do is a commitment to child-centred care. This means giving children a voice in their own healthcare journey, empowering them to feel heard, respected, and involved in decisions that affect them. When children take an active role, outcomes improve and so do their overall experiences.

Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy and feeling supported. Thank you to our clinical partners who share Little Journey with their patients, ensuring that children’s health remains a priority every day. 💙

14/08/2025

On average, each repeat MRI scan costs the NHS £162.36. Having to repeat that scan not only costs more money, but has a knock on impact on extra staff time, operational strain, and additional distress for patients.

An independent health economic analysis found that using Little Journey resulted in a 80% reduction in repeat scans!

For hospitals, that means:

- Higher-quality imaging ✅
- Lower operational costs ✅
- Less pressure on clinical teams ✅

For children and families, that means:

- Less time in hospital ❤️
- More time together at home 🏠

08/08/2025

Clear and open communication with healthcare professionals is key when understanding the boundaries of a neurodivergent person 🗣️

Catherine’s son needed an X-ray and instead of resorting to holding his hand down, she worked with the clinician to ensure Axel could have his scan independently, in a way that was safe for everyone in the room. This interaction highlighted the positive results that can happen when families and healthcare professionals work together as a team. 🌟

Learn more about Catherine’s experience accessing healthcare with her neurodivergent son 👉 https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0mfl500

18/07/2025

Last but not least, our third and final material of our mind series, Relaxing Mind ☁️

How does it work?

This resource provides simple, engaging ideas that encourage children to focus on comforting thoughts, such as floating on a cloud, cuddling a pet, or swimming in the sea.

What is this for?

These activities can be done quietly in their mind to create a sense of calm. The goal is to help children feel more at ease and in control during their visit. By using their imagination to engage their senses—thinking about what they can see, hear, feel, touch, and smell—they can create a peaceful space in their mind

What helps you relax your mind? https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0lH_C30 🌟

16/07/2025

We’ve launched another new resource play specialists, child life specialists, and clinicians can use to support their paediatric patients - Creative Mind 🖍️

How does it work?

Offering a range of creative thinking activities to choose from, like inventing an imaginary friend, finding a magical object, or pretending to have superpowers. These activities can be done alone for quiet focus or shared with others for extra fun.

What is this for?

The goal is to keep your child entertained while helping them feel more relaxed and in control. By using their imagination, they can turn waiting time into a fun and distraction-filled experience—reducing anxiety and making the visit feel easier.

Let your child’s imagination run free, https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0lH_CY0 🌟

14/07/2025

Our first of three new preparation resources, designed to support emotions for children visiting hospital - Playful Mind 🪁

How does it work?

By offering a variety of simple, enjoyable activities like the ABC game, word association, and rhyming challenges, this resource will help your child stay still and calm during medical procedures by engaging their minds in fun, playful activities.

What is this for?

The goal is to help your child feel more comfortable and relaxed during their visit while also developing their coping skills to help them manage times of stress.

Find out which activity calms you the most, https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0lH-8c0 🌟

11/07/2025

“When children feel more confident and calm, hospital experiences become a little easier - for them, for their families, and for the teams caring for them.” 🌟

Created by play specialists and clinical psychologists, We’re launching 3 new offline preparation materials, designed to support emotions! Children’s healthcare journeys can bring up big and sometimes difficult feelings. We believe in the power of play and preparation to help ease worries and boost readiness. 🚀

Watch this space to find out what they are! But in the mean time, take a look at our existing materials 👉 https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0lHTTM0

19/06/2025

We’re delighted to welcome our newest partner, University Hospital Waterford 🚀

Children visiting for day surgery or blood tests can now prepare for their procedure at home with their families. As well as having access to calming, play-based activities to help reduce anxiety on the day.

Thank you to everyone involved in setting up these pathways. We’re proud to be supporting even more paediatric patients across Ireland! 🌟

HSE Ireland

15/05/2025

“You can design the slickest, most visually appealing digital experience you like, but if 20% of people struggle to use it, how successful is that experience?”

Today is . Thanks to funding from SBRI Healthcare, we’ve been able to make key accessibility improvements to the Little Journey app, so more children and families can benefit from support for hospital visits and clinical trials 🌟

Our Design Lead and Accessibility Champion, Josh, shares insights on the important difference between accessibility and inclusion, and how we’re working to prioritise both in every part of our design process.

Read more on how we're designing for everyone 👉 https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0k5DkD0

15/04/2025

On average, each repeat MRI scan costs the NHS £162.36. An independent health economic analysis found that using Little Journey resulted in a 71% reduction in repeat scans!

For hospitals, that means:
- Higher-quality imaging ✅
- Lower operational costs ✅
- Less pressure on clinical teams ✅

For children and families, that means:
- Less time in hospital ❤️
- More time together at home 🏠

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London

Website

http://www.littlejourney.health/

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