Meet Shogo, the Honda Electric Car that is Making Hospital Stays for Small Patients a Little Happier
Because young hospital patients need all the joy they can get.
If you have ever had a child in the hospital for any reason you know all about the enormous stress and anxiety involved. As parents we are stressed to be there, but oftentimes the child is just as stressed because the environment is new and can be very scary. The American Honda Motor Company has created a wonderful initiative called Project Courage. The purpose of Project Courage is to use their innovative Honda electric car named Shogo to bring joy to kids staying in the hospital.
Who is Shogo?
Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC Hospital) partnered with Honda’s Project Courage initiative to create an electric ride-on vehicle for kids. The vehicle is named “Shogo” and was designed and developed by Honda’s in-house engineers. The name Shogo is based on a Japanese word meaning “soaring into the future.” Instead of being transported around the hospital in a wheelchair, young patients will have the opportunity to drive Shogo.
Shogo was created for hospital patients ages four through nine in mind, who can easily drive with power controls and manage the stop and go mechanisms on the steering wheel. The car goes from one to five miles per hour, but don’t worry, Shogo is ultimately controlled by the nurse or caregiver. The vehicle also has an IV bar located in the back for those who may need to still be hooked up to their IV’s during their drive, and a push bar for the option to manually push the vehicle when needed. Other features include a toy bucket to bring that favorite toy along for the ride, cup holders, and a horn with multiple sound options and customizable license plate for each rider. Shogo can be easily cleaned due to the hard surfaces of the vehicle.
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Every Minute With Less Anxiety is Appreciated By Kids and Parents Alike
Since February 2012, my husband and I are no strangers to having children in the hospital. Our daughter was in the NICU for 50 days, our oldest twin had a NICU stay of 58 days. Our daughter also has had several surgeries and hospital stays over the years.
Unfortunately, we have learned all about the world of hospital visits. Although each experience has been quite scary, we definitely have had some great experiences with the way our child has been cared for, and how our family has been taken care of. Hospitals do a great job with accommodating the entire family; parents, siblings and grandparents included.
Learning about Honda’s Shogo, I know our daughter would’ve loved this experience.
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Project Courage’s Shogo Brightens Moments
My husband and I can probably write a book about staying with children in the hospital, and if I did, I would title it “The Do’s and Don’ts of Hospital Stays.” And on the Do list, I would say “Do Stay In A Hospital with Shogo.” We recently were in the hospital in December 2021 for my daughter’s latest surgery. I know a ride in Shogo would’ve lifted her spirits and taken her mind off the pain she was experiencing.
During each of our hospital stays or outpatient surgeries, the Child Life Department has been a vital part. Child Life is the department that would come around to help the patient and their family get settled in at the hospital. Along with helping us get settled, they also provided stuffed animals, rentable iPads for kids to play and watch movies on. Child Life also directs families to hospitality rooms and lets them know where they can find items to make the child’s stay more enjoyable or as enjoyable as possible while they’re there. As if that’s not enough, this fantastic department has also provided blankets to our children with their favorite characters and sports teams, lunches for family members, books, Christmas toys for the children to keep even when they leave the hospital. They would even provide items for the patient’s sibling if they have one so the sibling feels included as well. Shogo would be an incredible addition to any Child Life team.
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A child being admitted into the hospital is always stressful. But if Shogo brings lasting good memories and joy into every patient’s hospital stay, it’s that much less stressful, and that’s a good thing.
Categorized:Car Technology
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