Beads of Courage program launched at Mercy Children’s Hospital
BPC Staff Sep 13, 2018 | 4:08 pm
1 min read time
174 wordsAll Latest News, Arts and Culture, Health and WellnessAn innovative arts-in-medicine program, Beads of Courage, has been launched at Mercy Children’s Hospital & Clinics in Des Moines. The Beads of Courage program at Mercy is the first of its kind in Iowa for pediatric cardiac patients, say Mercy officials. Providing arts-in-medicine for children with serious illnesses, the program helps more than 60,000 children in eight countries record, tell and own their stories, using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage and hope along their treatment journey. Locally, the program is made possible by a lead gift of $95,000 from the 2017 Principal Charity Classic to Mercy Foundation. An estimated 250 young patients at Mercy will benefit annually from the program; 74 children at Mercy have been enrolled so far. Each child participant is given a string and beads that spell out his or her first name. Then, colorful beads, each representing a different treatment milestone – ranging from blood draws and clinic visits to tests and scans – are given to the child by their Mercy providers to add to the strand.