Happy Heart Cart , DifferenceMakers
We want adult patient hospital stays to be as enjoyable as possible.
Happy Heart Cart won Honorable Mention, a $2,000 prize, at the 2016 Idea Challenge. Team members include, Irtiza Khtar (Graduate Mechanical Engineering), MaryKate McDonough '17 (Business Administration) and Olivia Vieira '16 (Nursing). This interdisciplinary team was formed utilizing the TeamMaker platform, a team building resource that DifferenceMaker offers to help students form teams.
Happy Heart Cart is a program that provides advanced therapeutic and holistic practices to improve patient stays in adult hospitals through an activity cart that can either be wheeled between rooms, stationary or present in every room. Many patients become bored after being hospitalized for a period of time; it is often only over a few days. Reading the paper, watching television and looking at a phone screen can only be captivating for so long. Patients need activities that can get their mind off of their ailment, while having fun during their hospital stay. Children's hospitals have some of the most advanced therapeutic and holistic practices in the current medical field and Happy Heart Cart will bring these best practices to adult hospitals. This team has already spoken to several hospitals and has received valuable feedback in furthering their project. This team plans on implementing their project within the next six months.