A virtual reality experience for children’s oncology patients to get to know the environment where they will receive radiological treatments and be more relaxed during the sessions.
I Am Ready’ seeks to reduce the anxiety and stress of sick children and their families, due to the lack of knowledge about the treatment.
The possibility of eliminating the fear of children and their family environment can transform radiotherapy into a more natural process thanks to the virtual reality experiences created by Nixi for Children, which are already being applied with clinically proven efficacy in the preoperative rooms of multiple hospitals in Spain. ‘I Am Ready‘ is the project that the two organizations have created to reduce the states of anxiety and similar disorders suffered by pediatric patients before radiotherapy treatments through a virtual reality experience, which combines real 360° images with a 3D animated character (Nixi). When pediatric patients receive radiotherapy they are completely alone, which is why it is very common to resort to sedation when they are unable to remain still (especially in patients aged 3 to 6 years). However, in younger children sedation during radiotherapy can be avoidable, and this is what “I am Ready” wants to achieve.
FIATC Seguros has joined this initiative by sponsoring 500 virtual reality NixiKits that will be given to pediatric patients diagnosed with cancer, for whom radiotherapy can be an unfamiliar and unsettling experience. The aim of Nixi for Children and The Ricky Rubio Foundation is to prevent the impact of the disease and treatment from taking its toll on the children’s personal and family lives, as part of their actions in the field of oncology.
The design of all the elements of this project has been carried out with the help of patients, ex-patients, their families, medical, clinical and health professionals. Ricky Rubio, the international NBA basketball player, has actively participated in the recording of one of the experiences where he and Nixi help children to have a pre-knowledge of the sessions and to familiarize themselves with their daily treatment, which usually lasts between 4 and 6 weeks to complete their radiotherapy cycle. The NixiKit includes a virtual reality viewer, an activity booklet designed to help children express their feelings through play and creativity, three surprise coloring pages and a medical plush toy.
FIATC Seguros is structured in three lines of activity with the mission of providing welfare and accompanying people throughout the different stages of their lives: insurance, health services and residential services for the elderly. FIATC will help to promote the dissemination of the project and the pediatric use of ‘I Am Ready’, within the field of health.
The priority of FIATC Seguros as a mutual is to meet needs and services related to the personal and professional field, through offices throughout the country, served by a team of more than 800 people, and a wide network of mediators to ensure personalized attention. Promoting ‘I Am Ready’ fits in particularly well with the company’s values and sensitivity.
The aim of Nixi for Children is to help children reduce their anxiety level before a complicated treatment with virtual reality. After living a personal experience related to cancer when he was a teenager, Tomàs Lóbez decided to found Nixi for Children, a social enterprise, with the intention of helping the little ones to live their passage through the operating room in a more natural way. “We believe that virtual reality empowers children, it gives them tools to face their hospitalization without fear”. After validating their technology in a clinical trial in the field of preoperative anxiety, with “I am Ready” they hope to expand their lines of work to reach more patients and their families.
The Ricky Rubio Foundation (TRRF) fights against such a lethal disease as lung cancer and other oncology initiatives, and promotes sports as a tool for inclusion and integration of children and young people at risk of social exclusion. In the words of Ricky Rubio, “as important as the treatment and recovery is the preparation to face the treatment. I think it is a project that is made with the choir, using technology to help not to be afraid in a complicated situation”. The Ricky Rubio Foundation’s goal is to reach as many children as possible with this project.
