Disney-themed MRI experience helps reduce nerves at Calderdale Royal

Clinicians at Calderdale Royal Hospital say a new MRI experience is helping more children successfully complete their scans. The hospital is the first NHS site to introduce the Philips Ambient Experience with Disney themes, which uses iconic characters, lighting, and sound to help make scans feel less frightening for children.

Over 100 NHS sites with the Philips MRI scanner are now eligible to incorporate the Disney content, at no extra cost to the NHS. The rollout follows multi-centre European research which found Disney-themed MRI environments reduced paediatric patient stress levels by 43% and pauses during scans by 63%.

Figures cited by paediatric healthcare company Little Journey suggest that around 180,000 children in the UK undergo MRI scans each year, with approximately one in three requiring a general anaesthetic because they struggle to stay still or find the experience distressing to complete.

Alison Lord, radiographer at Calderdale Royal Hospital, said: “We have huge success with this and our general anaesthetic rate has come right down.” Visually, it’s very strong – colourful MRI suites, iconic cartoon characters integrated into the experience, plus footage and imagery of a seven-year-old patient and her mum talking through their experience.

When asked what she would say to other children who were worried about having a scan seven-year-old patient Esme said: “It’s OK because you get to watch Disney.”

Esme’s mum Lauren said: “I’d spoken Esme through what to expect because I’ve had an MRI before myself, so I told her what she’d need to do. But I was worried she might not be able to stay still because she’s a bit of a fidget bum – she’s a wriggler. Obviously, you need to stay still during the scan, and I was worried she’d keep getting distracted, trying to look around and move. But she surprised me because she was completely still during this.”

When asked whether she noticed a shift in Esme after seeing her chosen Disney character, she said: “I think the Philips Ambient Experience with Disney just helped her relax. It gave her something to focus on and be distracted by. I was sat next to her on the chair, but she didn’t really need me there because she had that distraction. I could tell she was relaxed because she was focused on it. If she hadn’t had that, I think she might have started moving, getting restless or bored.”

Her advice to other parents going through something similar is: “Just try to stay calm as a parent, because your child picks up on how you’re feeling. Reassure them. But having that distraction there definitely helps massively. Every child loves Disney. It helps them relax and it helps you relax as well.”

Radiographer Alison Lord added: “I definitely think the experience Philips and Disney have created here really helps create a calm and relaxed atmosphere. And it really helps us get great outcomes.

“Using the Philips Ambient Experience with Disney, we’re getting really good results without needing other interventions such as general anaesthetic. Our general anaesthetic rate has come right down. When I’m speaking to parents before the scan, they really want to try this.”

Picture credits: Raoul Hollants.

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