Kids’ Care: The Human Touch at the Children’s Hospital
40 years of HUDERF – The Children’s Hospital would not be what it is today without the non-profit organisation Kids’ Care –Les Amis de l' HUDERF.
For more than 35 years, the association has worked alongside hospital teams to support children and their families, by backing numerous projects that concretely improve daily life in the hospital.
Through its commitment, Kids’ Care has helped shape HUDERF into a place of care that puts people first, where environment, welcome and well-being are essential alongside medical excellence.
When the Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital (HUDERF) opened its doors in 1986, it marked a significant milestone in the Belgian hospital landscape. For the first time, a hospital was entirely dedicated to children and adolescents, from birth through to the end of adolescence. A university hospital, specialised and innovative.
Yet it quickly became clear that medical expertise alone was not enough.
In 1991, at the initiative of Professor André Kahn, a “friends” association of the hospital was created: Les Amis de l'HUDERF, now known as Kids’ Care. Its mission was clear: to act where standard frameworks fall short, where care ends but the human dimension begins.
“Humanising the hospital”
In the 1990s, the aim was to make the hospital environment warmer and better suited to children.
To make corridors less austere, waiting areas less anxiety-inducing. To support parents who often feel overwhelmed. And above all, to remember that a child in hospital remains a child, with fears, and with a need for play, movement and light.
The association grew around healthcare professionals and volunteers who shared the belief that the quality of care also depends on the environment in which it is delivered.
Among them is Dr Philippe Goyens, President of the association and involved since its foundation. A former paediatric gastroenterologist, later active in the nutrition and metabolism unit, he embodies a long-standing commitment to an institution in constant evolution.
“Caring for a child also means caring for everything around them,” he explains.
Alongside him, Marguerite Kiekens, Project Manager and former paediatric gastroenterology nurse at HUDERF, continues her commitment within the association.
Projects that change the atmosphere
Kids’ Care’s work goes far beyond good intentions.
Murals bring colour to the corridors. Aquariums offer moments of calm before consultations. A simulation MRI helps children become familiar with an intimidating examination through play, reducing anxiety and sometimes even the need for sedation.
The garden around the Robert Dubois School provides a welcome breathing space. The sensory garden, more secluded, can become a place of reflection for families facing serious illness. The playground reminds us that movement and laughter still have their place, even in hospital.
The association also contributes to the co-funding of a therapeutic nursery school within the day unit.
Supporting those who provide care
Humanising the hospital also means caring for the teams.
Kids’ Care funds ongoing training and supports initiatives that promote staff well-being. “A well-trained, supported and valued caregiver is more available for the child,” members of the association emphasise.
Support for the Docteurs Zinzins is part of this approach. Hospital clowns work in the wards and, for some children, also at home. Laughter becomes a therapeutic tool, easing fear and lightening the atmosphere.
Beyond the hospital walls, Kids’ Care also supports Globule Home, the paediatric home care and palliative care team. For ten years, the association funded the team’s vehicle, a concrete way of extending a human-centred approach to care into the home.
Passing it on
Thirty-five years after its creation, the association has become more structured and professional, without losing its volunteer spirit.
Today, its main challenge is renewal: finding a new generation ready to commit and carry forward this discreet yet essential legacy.