Our stories

Volunteers bringing crafts & smiles to kids in new Heart Cart role

There’s nothing our volunteers like more than bringing smiles and laughter to kids at CHEO. Our safety precautions mean that a visit to CHEO looks a little bit different these days, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be fun! Our new Heart Cart volunteers are bringing play back to CHEO visits in a safe and physically-distanced way.

The Heart Cart is a travelling cart with to-go bags of crafts, activities and books for kids to bring home. Our Heart Cart volunteers visit clinic waiting rooms to say...

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Partnering during a pandemic

This blog post was written by Britt-Mari Sykes – CHEO Family Advisor

I became a family advisor following a five-year period during which my son accessed health care services at CHEO. We were what CHEO calls “frequent flyers”.

For me as a parent, engaging with the health care system on such a regular basis was an eye-opening experience. You develop a relationship with health care because it becomes so much a part of your life. You start looking at the health care system from a variety of perspectives,...

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Declan’s life in colour

Declan’s life in colour: CHEO’s autism services hit home for rural families

When Liana packed up her life for Adam’s latest military posting in Deep River, she had the same worries anyone would have moving to an isolated area. How would she adjust to life in a small, remote town? How hard would it be to raise a family away from relatives? How would she cope being alone while Adam was away?

Shortly after settling into the routine of rural life, Adam and Liana welcomed baby boy Declan into their lives...

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CHEO’s Declaration of Values

At CHEO, the voices of children, youth and families matter and inform care. After all, we are Partners in Health. Together we created guiding principles that we now refer to as CHEO’s Declaration of Values. The goal is for everyone to see themselves in these values. To help make this come to life, we also partnered with children and youth who provided drawings and real-life scenarios to demonstrate the values in action.

This video demonstrates what being a Partner in Health should feel like at CHEO.

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Daniel and the dentist

Going to the dentist can be a scary experience. The loud sounds, bright overhead lights, unfamiliar smells and strange instruments are enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable, let alone a child with autism.

Daniel, like many children on the spectrum, has sensory sensitivities that make going to the dentist a stressful ordeal for both him and his mother, France. 

“It’s been such a struggle for us to find a dentist that understands how to support children on the spectrum,” said France. “Daniel...

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