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Donations bring non-medical forms of care to St. Luke's Children's Hospital

St. Luke's Children's Hospital has a new bookshelf and interactive social robot duck to help kids better understand their illnesses, provided by donations.

BOISE, Idaho — Sometimes a huggable, furry friend – or a book – can go a long way in making a child smile and giving them comfort. 

To help assist treatment for children with chronic illness, Aflac donated books and an interactive social robot duck to St. Luke's Children's Hospital. Market Director for Aflac's Boise office, Jaime Gaudet, made a personal donation to create the new 'Growing Minds Bookshelf.'

Medical Director for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Michelle Gardner, said the goal is to help the children better understand their illness. 

"It's not just a book, it's more than a book," Gardner said. "It's creating that family bonding time, creating this opportunity for a patient and maybe his or her parent, or sibling, or even bedside staff, to encourage them to read and to have an opportunity where we can provide some happiness despite going through a really difficult, painful experience."

In addition to the Growing Minds Bookshelf, St. Luke's also celebrated the 'My Special Aflac Duck' program. 

The stuffed Aflac duck was originally created for children with cancer. It interacts with and responds to kids during hospital visits.

St. Luke's said non-medical forms of care, such as the interactive social robot, are "valuable tools for clinicians to use in their treatment of children with chronic illness." 

"When a child experiences a chronic illness, it can bring pain, and can often take them away from some of the childhood norms, so a comfort tool like the unique My Special Aflac Duck that can specifically interact with and respond to them, can be a really positive influence in their care. And if you can hand that child a book that tells the story of a kid who is going through some of the same things they are with their illness, it can help them better process and know that they are not alone," St. Luke's Children's System Medical Director, Dr. Kenny Bramwell said.

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