Fold, Press, Tuck… The Art of Origami

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Patients in our community hospitals often stay for longer periods as they take time to rest, recuperate and rehabilitate. Apart from physical rehabilitation exercises, our patients are also kept occupied with meaningful activities that they enjoy in order to keep them engaged and enrich their stay.

The finer details

Winnie Woon, Patient Activity Coordinator (PAC) with the Community Relations (CR) team at OCH, was about to wrap up patient activities for the day when she noticed Ong Po Choo, a patient in the ward, fiddling with a piece of paper. Curious about what Po Choo could be doing, Winnie approached her and noticed that she was using the food order form to fold a little paper rabbit.

Winnie excitedly explained, "When I noticed that she really enjoyed doing Origami in her free time, I passed her some Origami paper that she could use. As I also help to coordinate patient activities in the wards, I knew that there was an upcoming virtual origami session that the CR team was facilitating and arranged for Po Choo to attend. I think that was when Po Choo's interest in Origami really took off."

Nurturing our patient's interests
In addition to the virtual origami sessions, Winnie also scheduled afternoon Origami get-togethers in the wards for Po Choo and the other patients.

Po Choo shared, "I have always had an interest in Origami, having learnt a few basic shapes way back when I was in school. I never thought that I would be able to explore and develop my interest here. After Winnie passed me some Origami paper and arranged for me to attend the virtual sessions, I feel very happy to be able to pick this up again. My interest in Origami is definitely back in full force and I even went on the internet myself to learn other different kinds of Origami art!"

Ding Xin Yi, Community Relations Executive (OCH), agreed with Winnie, "Po Choo joined in the virtual origami sessions that we organised and I saw that she paid close attention during the entire class. After that, she went on to fold more intricate Origami art than the ones we taught in the class. I even went down to the wards to learn more from her!"


Bring out the best
Together with Winnie and the team, Po Choo created many beautiful artworks with Origami flowers and even taught some of the other patients in the wards how to do Origami art. She also handmade a special artwork for the care team as a gift to thank them for taking good care of her during her stay.

Winnie felt that it is important to engage our patients through the different activities and support them emotionally. When our patients feel supported and engaged, it reduces their stress and helps them along in their recovery journey.

She added, "I try to give all our patients individual attention and look out for tiny cues that will let me know more about them. I am encouraged to know that the different activities have touched their hearts and lifted their spirits. This what we hope to do for all our patients."