Comfort Device with Concealed Symbolic Item

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to devices used to relieve emotional distress and provide comfort to patients with chronic medical conditions.

BACKGROUND

Approximately 18 million children in the United States have a chronic medical condition of some kind. While the details vary from child to child, children with chronic medical conditions face challenging, and sometimes bleak, circumstances. Frequent invasive medical procedures and the difficulty of following exacting treatment protocols are only part of the problem. Left untreated, the psychosocial consequences of a chronic medical condition can be just as serious as the underlying condition itself.

A child who has a chronic condition often leads a different life than his or her typical peers. He or she may be subjected to intense, stressful, and traumatizing medical procedures. He or she may be unexpectedly torn away from caregivers, loved ones, and emotional support because of medical emergencies. These kinds of experiences may be impossible for the child to process—or to communicate to others.

Even if the child is able to communicate and to reflect on their experiences, there may be no one around them, child or adult, who is fully equipped to understand. That can be alienating. Worse, because these children may not have much opportunity to live a typical childhood, they may lack the shared, relatable childhood experiences that are necessary to make and maintain age-appropriate friendships. The alienation alone can be traumatizing, and alienation can lead to bullying and other traumatizing experiences. Moreover, visible symbols of disability, like wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, and catheters, may serve to fuel stigma and to further alienate the children who rely on them. However, children without overt signs of disability often fare little better: in the absence of overt signs of disability, these children may feel societal or peer pressure to be “normal,” and they may be denied needed accommodations and help because the need for help is not apparent to others.

Stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness are common in children with chronic conditions. These issues may cause a child to withdraw—or to develop maladaptive or age-inappropriate behaviors and lash out. Yet those who exhibit signs of distress often defy the societal stereotype of a smiling, indefatigable “poster child” for a particular medical condition and may thus find themselves further alienated and ostracized from society.

Given all of this, it is perhaps no surprise that approximately 40% of children with a chronic medical condition develop and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and other psychosocial consequences of chronic medical conditions have lifelong implications, and despite the best efforts of doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, and child life specialists, interventions for PTSD and other psychosocial conditions in children with chronic medical conditions are in their infancy.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A comfort device is disclosed. The comfort device has the overall configuration and features of a soft doll or toy and may be plush. For example, the comfort device may resemble a teddy bear or another type of doll. The comfort device has an internal pocket that opens along the outer surface of the device, and may open in an inconspicuous area, such as at the back of the device. Fixedly tethered within the internal pocket is a symbolic item representative or indicative of a particular chronic medical condition. The tether may be soft, flexible, inextensible, and just long enough that the symbolic item can be withdrawn from the internal pocket and held or appreciated, but not long enough that tether poses a safety issue. The symbolic item itself is typically soft and may be a plush as well.

The soft or plush comfort device itself may provide physical comfort during periods of acute stress, or when undergoing or recovering from a medical procedure or a potentially traumatic situation. The symbolic item housed within the comfort device is selected specifically for each child's particular chronic condition and may provide more intangible emotional or intellectual benefits, like a sense of identification and connection, and a reminder that the child is part of a community of similarly-situated others.

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The invention will be described with respect to the following drawing figures, in which like numerals represent like features throughout the description, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a comfort device with a concealed symbolic item according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the comfort device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the rear of the comfort device of FIG. 1, illustrating an internal pocket and tether; and

FIGS. 4-9, 10A, 10B, and 11 are illustrations of symbolic items that may be used as part of the comfort device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a comfort device, generally indicated at 10, according to one embodiment of the invention. Generally speaking, comfort devices 10 according to embodiments of the invention are plush or soft items, usually with anthropomorphic (i.e., human) or zoomorphic (i.e., animal) features. The comfort device 10 has the features of a classic teddy bear, with a head 12, a torso 14, arms 16 and legs 18.

In other embodiments, a comfort device 10 could have other appearances. It could have animal features, human features, or a combination of both. Whatever its features, the comfort device 10 should have features that are relatable and comforting to children.

In the illustrated embodiment, the comfort device 10 is plush. For purposes of this description, the term “plush” refers to the fact that the comfort device 10 is soft and filled with a compressible, resilient filling, such as polyester or cotton batting or polyurethane foam. However, while the comfort device 10 should be soft in most embodiments, it need not necessarily be plush. For example, the filling of the comfort device 10 could be sand, pellets, beans, or other particulate matter that is conformal and responsive to pressure, so that the comfort device 10 has a certain softness but not necessarily the resilience common in plush toys. In some cases, the comfort device 10 may have more than one filling, e.g., a polyester or cotton batting over most of its volume, and particulate fill in certain places to add weight or to create a certain body shape. For example, particulate fill may be used selectively to encourage the comfort device 10 to remain in the sitting position illustrated in FIG. 1.

Ultimately, the degree of softness in the comfort device 10, and its mechanical response to being hugged, squeezed, or otherwise compressed may vary considerably, depending in large part on the materials used to fill it and on how tightly those materials are packed. A comfort device 10 that uses polyester or cotton batting may offer little resistance to compression and spring back readily to its original shape. If the fill is, e.g., a polyurethane “memory foam,” the response to compression may be more viscoelastic in nature, the comfort device 10 may resist compression somewhat more, and it may return to its original shape more slowly. Yet if the comfort device 10 is filled with hard particulate matter, the fill may move or flow in response to compression, exhibiting softness, but it may not resiliently return to its original shape when pressure is released.

In addition to the comfort that softness can offer, the comfort device 10 is also soft for safety reasons—the comfort device 10 should be soft enough that it does not injure a child, even if they collide with it at a relatively high rate of speed, as might happen if the comfort device 10 is thrown, or if the child has a seizure or otherwise moves rapidly.

The outer surface 20 of the comfort device 10 in the illustrated embodiment is a medium-pile faux fur. However, in other embodiments, the outer surface 20 may be a higher-pile faux fur, a felt, or another type of fabric. Depending on the aesthetic and functional features of the comfort device 10, non-woven coverings, including plastic coverings, may be used as well, such as faux leather. Natural materials, like leather, may be used as well. Certain features of the comfort device, like the eyes 22 and nose 24, may be made either of fabric or of a rigid cast or molded material, like plastic. However, for the reasons set forth above, it may be helpful to minimize the number of rigid pieces in and on the comfort device 10. If rigid pieces are attached to the comfort device 10, e.g., to create the eyes 22 and nose 24, it may be helpful to attach them as well as possible, e.g., using secure stitching or adhesives, or by thermally or otherwise fusing the feature with the underlying fabric. As those of skill will understand, the location of seams in the outer surface 20 and in the comfort device 10 as a whole is not critical. Seams may be placed wherever convenient or necessary.

The comfort device 10 of FIG. 1 has the features of a teddy bear, and in other cases, may have features like those of other kinds of plush toys and dolls. As shown in the rear elevational view of FIG. 2, the comfort device 10 has an internal pocket 26 that is open to and accessible from the rear of the comfort device 10. The internal pocket 26 may be up to several inches in length and several inches in depth, and in the illustrated embodiment, is located along the central seam 28 of the torso 14, roughly vertically centered in the torso 14. The precise location of the internal pocket 26 is not critical; in other embodiments, it may be located higher or lower within the torso 14, off-center, or in another location entirely. For example, an internal pocket could be located in one of the limbs 16, 18. The torso 14 is a particularly convenient location for the internal pocket 26 because it has the largest volume of any compartment in the illustrated embodiment.

Although the internal pocket 26 may be located anywhere, there is a particular advantage to locating the internal pocket 26 such that it is only visible and accessible from the rear, or from another location that is not immediately apparent: concealment. As will be explained below in more detail, if the internal pocket 26 is at least somewhat inconspicuous, then the comfort device 10 may appear to be nothing more than a teddy bear, or whatever other kind of doll or toy it is made to resemble.

As can be seen on FIG. 3, an enlarged perspective view of the rear of the comfort device 10, illustrating the internal pocket 26. The pocket 26 is lined with a lining 27 and has a closure 29, such as hook-and-loop fastener, in a position to close the pocket 26.

Attached to the lining 27 by stitching, adhesives, fusing, or some other means of securement is a tether 30. The tether 30 of the illustrated embodiment is a soft, flexible, and inextensible, inelastic member. In the illustrated embodiment, the tether 30 is a short length of thin, soft cord, but in other embodiments, it could be thick cord, a ribbon, a soft chain, or any other suitable material. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the tether 30 is relatively short, in at least some embodiments, about 5 inches (12.7 cm) from its attachment point on the lining 27 to its distal end 32. Generally speaking, the tether 30 is long enough such that a symbolic item 31 attached to the distal end 32 of the tether 30 can be removed from the internal pocket 26, held in the hand, and appreciated, but not so long that the tether 30 poses a safety hazard. For example, the tether 30 may be sized so that a symbolic item can be drawn no more than 5 inches out of the internal pocket 26. In addition to preventing the loss of the symbolic item, the tether 30 itself may have symbolic meaning.

As was described briefly above, at the distal end 32 of the tether 30, a symbolic item 31 is attached. The term “symbolic item,” for purposes of this text, is an item that has some symbolic relationship with a particular chronic condition. The symbolic relationship may be direct, e.g., a representation of a medical device or implement involved in the treatment or management of the condition, or a representation of an organ at the core of the chronic condition, or it may be more indirect or fanciful, e.g., a butterfly. The precise nature of the symbolic item will vary from condition to condition, and many versions of the comfort device 10 may be made, each with its own type of symbolic item related to a particular chronic condition. The symbolic items for some chronic conditions may have an association and symbolic meaning that is well established; in other cases, the symbolic items may be newly associated with their respective conditions and may acquire symbolic meaning over time. In any case, there is no requirement that the symbolic item have an established symbolic meaning or association at the time that it is first used. In fact, the nature of a symbolic item for a particular condition may be selected in consultation with children who have that particular condition.

Physically, the symbolic item 31 will typically be soft, and may be either plush or made with soft materials, like foam. The symbolic item 31 will usually be made just smaller than the internal pocket 26, so that it at least substantially fills the internal pocket 26. Here, the term “substantially fills” refers to the idea that the volume of the symbolic item 31 and the volume of the internal pocket 26 will be similar, with the volume of the symbolic item being, e.g., at least 75% of the volume of the internal pocket 26, and sometimes as great as at least 90% of the volume of the internal pocket 26. In other words, in many cases, the internal pocket 26 will be sized to carry the symbolic item 31 and only the symbolic item 31. However, the internal pocket 26 and the symbolic item 31 need not have complementary, mirror-image, or lock-and-key shapes; it is sufficient for the symbolic item 31 to fit securely in the internal pocket 26 such that it will not generally fall out of the internal pocket 26 on its own but can be manually taken out of the internal pocket 26 without difficulty.

FIG. 4 illustrates the symbolic item 31 in isolation. This particular symbolic item 31 represents hydrocephalus. The symbolic item 31 is plush and has the shape of a shunt. It is connected at its midsection to the distal end 32 of the tether 30. For representative purposes, it has cords 52, 54 at each end.

FIG. 5 illustrates a symbolic item 60 for epilepsy. This symbolic item 60 has a simplified outer shape suggestive of the shape of the brain, and may be made in a color, e.g., pink, suggestive of living tissue. Within the outer shape, the symbolic item 60 has a number of stars 62, which may be embroidered with stitching or may be attached to the symbolic item.

FIG. 6 illustrates a symbolic item 70 for cerebral palsy. This symbolic item 70 has the shape and general character of a butterfly and is marked “CP” using embroidery or other appropriate means.

FIG. 7 illustrates a symbolic item 80 for spina bifida, which has the shape and colors of a white daisy. In this symbolic item 80, the petals may be made individually, and the distal end 32 of the tether 30 may be attached to the back.

FIG. 8 illustrates a symbolic item 90 for ulcerative colitis. This symbolic item 90 has the shape suggestive of the large intestine or colon, with embroidered or otherwise-marked dots across its outer surface.

FIG. 9 illustrates a symbolic item 100 for sickle-cell anemia, which has a shape resembling that of a sickle-shaped red blood cell.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are front and rear elevational views of a symbolic item 110 for Turner syndrome. Symbolic item 110 has the shape of an X and is suggestive of the X chromosome, with a shape suggestive of the body of a butterfly positioned at the center of the X.

Finally, FIG. 11 is an illustration of a symbolic item 120 for cystic fibrosis. Symbolic item 120 has the shape of a rose with the number “65” embroidered or otherwise marked on the flower.

Of course, FIGS. 4-9, 10A, 10B, and 11 present only a small sampling of possible symbolic items that may be used in and with a comfort device 10. As can be seen from a survey of these figures, the nature of the symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 varies widely. For example, the symbolic item 120 for cystic fibrosis has an established symbolic meaning and association—“65 roses” is a well-known reference to cystic fibrosis originally used by a four-year-old child who could not pronounce the actual name of the condition. Several of the symbolic items 60, 90, 100, 110, 120 relate to the anatomical or genetic basis for the chronic condition. Other symbolic items 70, 80 are more fanciful. Most of the symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 have the same maximum dimension, as they are intended to fit within the same internal pocket 26 without modification. In the illustrated embodiments, that maximum dimension is 5 inches (12.7 cm). The symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 differ in the point of attachment of the tether 30, and in some cases, the tether 30 could be made of a particular material, in a particular thickness, or with a particular color or colors to complement or augment the meaning or aesthetics of the symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120.

The symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 do differ somewhat in their level of detail and the fineness of their features. For example, the rose 120 has a relatively thin and narrow stem. In many cases, the symbolic items 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 will be made entirely of a single material or type of material, e.g., all plush. However, in some cases, especially where there are fine features, a symbolic item may be made of two or more different materials, e.g., plush for some parts and a soft foam capable of taking finer features for other parts.

In some cases, a comfort device 10 could include more than one symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120. This may be particularly useful in cases where a child has comorbid conditions, like hydrocephalus and epilepsy. If more than one symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 is included, the multiple items could be placed in a single pocket of appropriate size. Alternatively, each symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 could have its own pocket. If two or more items are in a single pocket, they may share the same tether, or they may be placed on individual tethers.

Ultimately, the comfort device 10 and its connected symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 may serve multiple purposes. First, the soft or plush comfort device 10 itself may provide physical comfort during periods of acute stress, or when undergoing or recovering from a medical procedure or a potentially traumatic situation. Second, a symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 selected specifically for each child's particular chronic condition may provide more intangible emotional or intellectual benefits, like a sense of identification and connection, and a reminder that the child is part of a community of similarly situated others.

If the child wishes it, the symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 could be taken out of the internal pocket 26 and shown to others. In this way, the symbolic item 31, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 could be used to begin a conversation about the particular chronic condition or to educate. More broadly, comfort devices 10 may be used as educational tools to educate the child about his or her condition, or as part of specific planned or programmed interventions for conditions like acute stress, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the benefit of the comfort device 10 and its concealed internal pocket 26 is that it need not be used for any of these specific things and could still be of benefit to a child. Sometimes a kid just needs a teddy bear.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, the description is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting. Modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

	Number	Date	Country
	63314062	Feb 2022	US
	63279382	Nov 2021	US

Comfort Device with Concealed Symbolic Item

Information

Publication Number

Date Filed

Date Published

Inventors

CPC

International Classifications

Abstract

Description

Claims

PCT Information

Provisional Applications (2)