Appreciation of a Child's Journey: Implementation of a Cardiac Action Research Project.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the phases of the action research process involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating the Heart Beads program. The aim of the project is to enrich the hospital experience of children with cardiac conditions. Heart Beads involves children receiving unique beads specific to each cardiac treatment, procedure or event in recognition of their experiences, and endurance.

Heart to heart: a programme for children on a cardiac ward.

This paper presents three research case studies of children who have had surgery for a cardiac condition and discusses the experiences of the children and their families through their responses to the Heart Beads programme, as well as the insights gained by staff. The Children's Hospital at Westmead has a significant population of children with cardiac conditions. For many of these, diagnosis signals the beginning of a long, arduous journey with multiple procedures and admissions.

Narratives of the heart: telling the story of children with a cardiac condition through a bead program.

Aims: To present and discuss the significance of a bead program in assisting families to put together the story of a child's journey through cardiac intervention. The main focus of the article is the importance to families of developing a narrative in making sense of the experience of discovering their child has a cardiac condition and how this is enhanced by the bead program.

Background: The Heart Beads Program involved giving families beads related to procedures and processes the children undergo while they are in hospital.