This wrap-up has been compiled by the Programme
PROGRAMME 2021-2027
Priority   1 Innovative societies
Objective  1.2 Responsive public services
Mobile Hospital
Wrap-up of project achievements
Hospital visits can be frightening for children and stressful for their families. The Interreg Mobile Hospital project developed a child-friendly digital solution that helps young patients and their parents prepare for hospitalisation, making the experience less scary and easier to understand while supporting healthcare staff with consistent, high-quality pre-counselling.
Highlights
Mobile Hospital
Highlights
BSR Food Coalition
The Mobile Hospital project successfully addressed the lack of structured, child-friendly pre-counselling by bringing together hospitals, universities, families, and healthcare staff from Finland, Sweden, and Poland. The project developed a multilingual, evidence based online application that prepares children and parents for hospital visits, reduces anxiety, and supports hospital staff in guiding paediatric patients.
In a nutshell, the project developed:
- Mobile Hospital app
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Project
Details
Project type
Small project
Project duration
August 2023 – July 2025
Contribution to the EUSBSR
PA Health
Budget in million
EURO
Involved
Countries
Lead partner
Project partners
Project Details
Project type
Small project
Project duration
August 2023 – July 2025
Contribution to the EUSBSR
PA Health
Budget in million EURO
0.31 total // 0.25 ERDF // 0.00 Norway
Involved Countries
Lead Partner: Finland
Project Partners: Poland // SwedenÂ
Mobile Hospital appÂ
Farm-to-school programmes
A multilingual digital preparation tool for children, parents, and staff
The Mobile Hospital app supports children and families before and during their stay in hospital. The app combines evidence-based psychological knowledge with a user-friendly design, ensuring accessibility and adaptability for small children and their families.
Partners from Finland, Sweden, and Poland exchanged clinical practices and jointly identified the most common procedures and examinations (12 pathways), aligning the content across different hospital environments. This ensured that the app is adaptable, culturally sensitive, and relevant across healthcare systems. The tool was co-created with active engagement from children, parents, and hospital staff, who helped assess needs, as well as pilot and shape the app through real experiences. For example, the animal character featured in the app was selected based on children’s preferences.
The app uses 360° hospital images, videos, audio, and simple text to virtually guide children through experiences from arrival to examinations and treatments. By explaining and demonstrating what will happen, who they will meet, and how each step works, it helps children overcome fears, build a sense of control, and even develop positive curiosity.
The app can be used at home to prepare children in advance, as well as by hospital staff already within the hospital, to prepare children and their parents for specific examinations or treatments. It is available in Finnish, English, Polish, and Swedish.
So far, feedback project received from by first users shows that the application really works:
- 91% of children rated the app as good, really good, or brilliant
- 100% of nurses found the app useful for paediatric patients.
- Parents highlighted reduced anxiety, better preparation, and improved understanding of procedures.
With its psychoeducational content and interactive nature, the application makes the hospital experience for families significantly more supportive, thus helping also the treatment and recovery process.Â
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Interreg pays off
Solutions in use
Interreg pays off: Solutions in use
The Mobile Hospital app is already helping children and parents prepare for hospital visits beyond the project itself. Available in English, Finnish, Swedish and Polish, the web-based application is now used by hospitals across the partner countries and can be accessed from participating hospitals’ websites. Building on the shared experience of partners, the team in Turku also developed an interactive game version, allowing children to explore the hospital environment in a playful and safe way before their visit.
The project also inspired interest in expanding the app to additional procedures, new hospital departments, and broader use in child centred healthcare communication.
In numbers
10 organisations cooperating across borders
35 organisations directly benefitting
Project Wrap-Up
Thanks to Interreg funding and cooperation across borders, Mobile Hospital significantly improved how children and families prepare for hospital visits. The project delivered a practical, child-friendly and evidence based digital tool now used in Finland, Sweden, and Poland. Families can finally explore hospital environments safely in advance, reducing anxiety and strengthening resilience during medical care.
