Gifts Promote Safety and Relaxation
There’s a treat in store for Roswell Park inpatients! During the admission process, they now receive a comfort kit to make their stay more pleasant. Patients visiting the Breast and Gynecology clinics are also invited to pick up kits in the Breast and GYN Resource Center, located on the first floor of the Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center.
The gifts come courtesy of donors to the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, which funded the project through a Quality of Life Grant.
Each kit includes:
- Toiletry bag (to hold the kit contents as well as the patient’s personal items)
- Ear plugs
- Earphones for TV or computer
- Sleep mask
- Sleep caps (available from Nursing for those who request them)
- Notepad and pen
- Mints
- Stuffed animal (to help prevent falls by reminding patients to call a nurse before getting out of bed). One patient wrote a thank-you letter, saying, “I especially love the lamb, who I promised I would listen to and not get out of bed without a nurse!”
- Natural personal care products from Renew Bath and Body, including samples of body wash, body lotion, lip balm and deodorant
The personal care items reflect the focus of Tom Akers, owner of Renew Bath and Body, who was raised in the spirit of natural living. His hippie parents instilled in him a simple mantra to help him make decisions about products: “If you need a dictionary to understand it, don’t use it.”
Labels on packaged or processed foods and personal care items usually list several ingredients requiring a dictionary look-up. Many people prefer to buy organic, believing that natural products contribute to better health. That idea was the driving force behind Akers’ decision to open his shop, located in the heart of the Elmwood Village. Selling a wide variety of natural products, including lip balms, soaps, shampoos and shaving creams, Renew is a fun place to shop (and it’s full of delightful scents!).
Akers hopes that the gift packages will bring a measure of comfort to inpatients who are undergoing treatment at Roswell Park and that others will visit his store to explore a more natural way of living. “I’m honored to be part of this amazing project and just really proud of how it’s turning out,” he says, adding that he hopes to offer informational classes to the public in the near future.
Information on this page is provided by Roswell Park’s Office of the Patient/Family Experience. Questions or comments? Please call 716-845-8114.
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