Framingham & Wayland Kids Learn About Health In Teddy Bear Clinic

A group of children from Framingham and Wayland were among dozens of young pediatric patients living with diabetes who attended the Joslin Diabetes Center’s 16th annual Teddy Bear Clinic over the weekend. Ella, 6, and Aiden O’Neill, 8, of Framingham and Will Collett, 8, of Wayland joined the event. The event is a fun, interactive opportunity for young patients living with Type 1 diabetes to learn about diabetes and help them feel comfortable with the health care experiences that come with managing it— all through the lens of their favorite stuffed animal. Patients attended the event not just with their stuffed animals in hand but with family and friends as well.

The kids picked a teddy bear and walked it through varying healthcare processes set up at different stations with their new bear's medial record— a process that mirrors one they may have already gone through. Stations included measuring the bear’s height with a ruler, weighing their bear, taking its blood pressure, checking their bear’s blood sugar and giving it insulin if needed, taking it grocery shopping for healthy foods and giving it an eye exam in the Joslin eye clinic.

Alongside Joslin’s doctors and child life specialists, teenage Joslin patients and students from local Boston colleges volunteered to staff the event.