The Patience Project

The Patience Project originated from a commitment made by Ben, Kelly and Christie Martel to their son/brother Liam, who passed away in Auckland’s Starship Hospital in late 2016. Liam, who was aged 16 when he died, spent considerable days and nights in Starship over a three-year period plus many days at home, where he could not attend school, clubs or other activities that a healthy teenager normally would. Unfortunately, due to illness, injury and other circumstances, this is not uncommon and affects more teenagers than many would realise.

In 2018, CCRE conducted a formative assessment of the project, that sought to build knowledge on how the Patience Project might help young people feel more included through the use of telepresence technologies. The findings were overwhelming positive in terms of enhancing young peoples' connectedness to their educational environments.

This pilot resulted in a Starship Foundation-funded 'proof of concept' which is currently underway. We are excited about how the findings from this larger study will contribute to improved social and educational connectedness for young people with a long term illness.​