The RBWH Foundation patient entrainment trolley crew in action

RBWH Foundation volunteers have implemented a new activity trolley to help entertain inpatients while they receive care in hospital.

Stocked full of donated books, magazines, puzzles, sudokus, colouring-in sheets and DVDs for portable players, the activity trolley is fast becoming a much-anticipated arrival each week in the wards.

Volunteer Engagement Manager for the RBWH Foundation, Damita Oldmeadow says the trolley has not only been beneficial for patients but for volunteers and staff as well.

“Our volunteers, especially our medical and nursing students absolutely love these opportunities to be in the wards and cherish the patient interactions they get to have,” Damita said.

“Teams of two volunteers travel to eleven different patient areas with the trolley three times a week from 9am – 1pm, delivering the donated activities.

“We also have the capacity to run errands for people if there’s a magazine or newspaper from the newsagent they’d really love, or even a fresh cup of coffee from the coffee cart.”

Before being launched in October this year, the activity trolley was trialled over an eight-week period and received overwhelming support and feedback from ward managers who recognised that not every patient is interested in or can use digital devices.

“For some of our patients, technology just isn’t their preferred choice of entertainment and they would much rather a chat, a book, some puzzles or colouring in sheets which we now provide through the activity trolley,” Damita said.

“During the trial, we noticed that a lot of our patients struggled with small-font writing and so I created a large-font activity book full of brain teasers and puzzles, to make sure there was an option for everyone.”

If you’d like to make any book or magazine donations to the activity trolley, or would like to see an activity trolley in your patient area, please email d.oldmeadow@rbwhfoundation.com.au.