Disney and Philips team up to improve the healthcare experience for kids

Why are Disney and Philips joining forces?

• The unlikely alliance follows moves by Royal Phillips to deinstitutionalize the medical environment by offering patients a more personal experience accompanied by their favorite animation characters across six European hospitals.

• By bringing some of Disney’s most iconic properties to life at a difficult time, the Philips Ambient Experience seeks to improve pediatric MRI procedures for both patients and staff.

• Children will be able to choose from Marvel’s Avengers, Aladdin, Spiderman and Star Wars’ Yoda to gain a sense of control over the medical process, helping to distract young patients while clinicians go about their work.

• Each character will enact a custom-drawn animation, with Aladdin shown riding a magic carpet or Spiderman web-slinging through New York.

• By joining forces, Phillips can combine its medical expertise with Disney’s unique ability to transport viewers to alternate worlds, making the hospital experience as pleasurable as possible.

Why does it matter?

• Kees Wesdorp, chief business leader of Precision Diagnosis at Philips, said: “A visit to the hospital can be quite intimidating for people, especially children, and a more patient-friendly, patient-centric environment could help improve the patient experience and help drive first-time-right imaging for improved outcomes.“

• This human-centric approach dovetails with The Drum’s current editorial focus on health.

• Health and wellbeing have never been more important in a world battling to overcome a rising tide of disinformation centred on vaccines and virus spread, leading The Drum to outline what measures the marketing world must adopt to win over anti-vaxxers.

• We have also prepared an in-depth investigation focussed on the unseen mental health impact of lockdown, exploring how people have been making the best of a bad situation to avoid the pressures of working from home, homeschooling and job insecurity from boiling over.

Check out The Drum’s special Health hub, which examines how the key players – from health agencies to pharma firms to brands – are doing their part to return the world to normality.