Victoria General Hospital is the first hospital on Vancouver Island to join Upopolis; an innovative social support platform and networking tool giving young patients safe and secure access to kid-friendly medical content.
Founded and created by Kids’ Health Links Foundation and powered by Telus Health, Upopolis.com is Canada’s only private online social network designed for kids and teens receiving medical care in hospitals and clinics.
Upopolis differs from typical social networks by delivering therapeutic benefits for the youth who use it.
These benefits include being able to access medical content written in kid-friendly language so patients can better understand their diagnosis and treatment plan; and enabling connections with other patients who share similar diagnoses through public and private discussion groups, which can lead to new friendships, shared experiences and new interests that form a broader support network for the patient.
“The Victoria General Hospital serves a diverse patient population from across Vancouver Island,” said Dr. Brendan Carr, president and CEO of Island Health.
“Upopolis can provide online social support for our patients and help them connect with others in a safe way, stay connected to their communities, and relate to other children and youth on a similar health care journey.”