Experiencing Carson’s nearly 10-year battle with childhood cancer, we understand why children who are undergoing cancer treatment – and treatment for other illnesses – may not want to be active. We also know that being mobile is beneficial for both body and mind when you are ill.

That is why the Carson Higgins Memorial Foundation has committed to provide 25 Augment Therapy units to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. This is the first time this immersive technology will be used in an in-patient pediatric setting in the United States. You can help us reach our $147,000 funding commitment, by making a donation.

Learn more about this program in the story below, which was first published in the University Hospital’s newsletter on September 2, 2021.

When you’re not feeling well, the last thing you want to do is get up and move. That’s especially true for pediatric oncology patients. Treatment regimens often make exercise challenging to consistently perform and walking the hallways of the patient floors can get monotonous.

“If they’re feeling up for anything, it may be playing video games or watching TV,” said Elizabeth (Betsy) Hockey, PT, physical therapy and clinical specialist, UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. “It just contributes to them getting weaker and less mobile. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Augment Therapy is a new treatment option helping to get patients at UH Rainbow get excited about physical activity. The software creates a virtual environment, which encourages patients to move in various ways. They can choose from 35 different activities and their exercise performance is monitored and tracked.

“It really offers something for everyone, from our preschoolers to our adolescent and young adult patients,” Betsy said. “Some kids love to move all over the place while others just want to walk through a virtual world. It’s great because there are two player options so the parents can get involved as well.”

Active feasibility trials were conducted with 30 patients with a variety of diagnoses, including brain tumors, leukemia and other cancers, Sickle Cell Disease, Cerebral Palsy and Cystic Fibrosis.

“One of the first kids we used it with was a 12-year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy,” Betsy explained. “The prospect of using it was literally what would get him to agree to get out of bed – otherwise he wanted to just lay in bed all day. He would go and go until he was exhausted; his Mom said that it was the first time he had enjoyed physical therapy in his life.”