Undergoing a healthcare procedure can be a daunting experience for anyone, especially as a child. Whether as part of routine care or a clinical trial, Little Journey supports children and their families from contemplation to full recovery through this award-winning app.
The simple-to-use app guides and supports children and their families through their healthcare journey – all from the comfort and safety of their own home. We support children through:
• Virtual reality tours enabling them to explore the exact rooms they’ll visit while in hospital.
• Age-tailored animations explaining what will happen and why.
• Breathing and relaxation exercises.
• Therapeutic and distraction games to use during stressful periods.
Little Journey helps parents by:
• Drip feeding information before, during and after their procedure.
• Providing small bitesize chunks of information to assist with information retention.
• Making it easier talk to children about what’s going to happen.
• Providing checklists, hints and tips, and nudges to make sure you’re all ready to go.
Little Journey was founded by an NHS doctor and researcher into children’s anxiety management. With support from children and their families, health play specialists, psychologists, nurses and doctors, the Little Journey app was born! We’ve continued to work with families and hospital staff to improve the app and expand to support families through more procedures.
Awards & recognitions:
• NHS Innovation Accelerator 2021
• Association of Anaesthetists Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) Innovation in critical care and anaesthesia 2018
• Patient Experience Network National Award (PENNA) Innovative use of technology award 2021
HideShow More...
Screenshots
Little Journey FAQ
Is Little Journey free?
Yes, Little Journey is completely free and it doesn't have any in-app purchases or subscriptions.
Is Little Journey legit?
🤔 The Little Journey app's quality is mixed. Some users are satisfied, while others report issues. Consider reading individual reviews for more context.
Only option for appointment of procedure was day ward. My child was in patient & follow up appointments so in theory this looked great to help him through the next 6-8 weeks. Reality was a very poor experience & despite selecting his age it’s clearly meant for very little kids. No content of functionality
Super idea, super app
Love this app. It’s such a great idea; it’s well presented and has lots of relevant info. My little boy loved the hospital walk through, the games and the characters. Makes a hospital visit a little less scary for a little one!
Incredible resource !
Thank you - my son was recently in hospital and the app helped to make a really smooth transition in and out of the day ward for a small operation. I only wish the hospital (temple street) could have had some of the same characters, even in wall art form, for continuity as he noticed all the butterflies and stickers that were already there so it would’ve given it an extra dimension to see them in the hospital, (considering he asked me if the animals that did the virtual tour would be doing his operation! )
It’s an amazing clever and really easy to use app that should be the way forward for all patients to children’s hospitals. I have a qualification in play therapy and I felt it was a very powerful tool in psychological preparation for hospital.
Thanks to the team who devised and made it,
From Paula and Ben (age 4)
Great app but…
This app is amazing to help a parent and older children to understand and put your mind at ease with what is going to happen during there visit. However, my 4 year old daughter is autistic and does not understand. It also doesn’t put my mind at ease as I know what is expected of her and it won’t happen! I think there should be articles for about what would happen with children with additional needs.
Amazing for children who have the understanding
Amazing app
This app is amazing with supporting not only a child but there parents
Doesn’t work for us
Can’t get the app to work, keeps freezing and sending us a white screen. Have tried numerous times. Such a shame as my autistic son could really benefit from this before his procedure.
Really helpful
Fantastic app for putting children’s minds at ease before an operation. Really good idea.
App doesn’t work
We have used this app on other devices before and it’s great. Now on apple the app doesn’t work, you can go through the adult section but you can not use the child art of the app which is why we got in the first place so my daughter can prepare for her operation in a few days time. Very disappointed
Noah’s journey
Was totally satisfied with my arrival to the end ward 16 were amazing and the surgeon was fabulous who made us comfortable for the whole procedure
Brilliant app
Wonderful app with a lovely friendly way of explaining it to children of all ages (and adults because I found it quite interesting to go through it with my daughter) she’s only three so it was very age-appropriate for her she liked playing the little dress up game and finding Molly mask and Kimmy cannula. I found the doctors voice is very relaxing and calming