Wish Impact
When a wish comes true, it creates strength, hope
and transformation in a child – and a community.
When a wish comes true, it creates strength, hope and transformation in a child – and a community.
Impact on Quality of Life
When children are living with critical illness, so much of normal childhood is taken away from them — it is exhausting, both emotionally and physically. A wish is something that gives children the opportunity to look outside their illness — it restores a sense of childhood back to the child and normalcy back to the family.
Research shows, and physicians agree, wishes can help improve a child’s quality of life and produce better health outcomes. Members of the Make-A-Wish Medical Advisory Committee share the life-changing impact wishes have — beyond just medicine — on their patients and their families.
Donate today and bring waiting wishes to life
Donate today and bring waiting wishes to life
585,000
More than 585,000 wishes granted worldwide since 1980.
25
A CHILD IS DIAGNOSED WITH A CRITICAL ILLNESS AND BECOMES ELIGIBLE FOR A WISH EVERY 25 SECONDS.
40
40 international affiliates grant wishes for children in 50 countries, on 6 continents.
Just a Few Facts
★ Wishes lead to increased joy and happiness for wish children, parents, and siblings.
★ Wish families described increased resilience and self-reliance during the wish journey.
★ Wishes create room for new hope, and motivation to achieve goals.
★ Wishes provide a welcome distraction from the child’s illness and treatment.
★ Wishes facilitate a sense of family togetherness and normalcy.
★ Wishes lead to increased joy and happiness for wish children, parents, and siblings.
★ Wish families described increased resilience and self-reliance during the wish journey.
★ Wishes create room for new hope, and motivation to achieve goals.
★ Wishes provide a welcome distraction from the child’s illness and treatment.
★ Wishes facilitate a sense of family togetherness and normalcy.
Wish Impact Studies
United States
The study led by America’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) examined quality of life and health care utilization among a group of patients who were allowed to make a wish and a group who were not.
NCH researchers reported that paediatric patients who were granted a wish were less likely to have unplanned hospital admissions and less likely to visit the emergency department.
Dr. Patel MD
– Section Chief of Neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (USA)
Donate today and bring waiting wishes to life
Donate today and bring waiting wishes to life
Wish Impact Studies
Israel
Studies from Make-A-Wish chapters around the world support Dr. Patel’s findings.
In 2015, Make-A-Wish Israel engaged researchers to look into the effects of a wish on children with cancer.
In a controlled trial, 33 kids who were allowed to make a wish were compared with a group of children who weren’t. Each child was asked to rate their psychiatric and health-related symptoms, along with feelings of hope and optimism, before and after their wish.
The research found that overall, children who experienced the Wish Journey generally showed less stress, depression and anxiety symptoms. These feelings were replaced with a greater general sense of hope for their future and positive emotions.
The research also showed that children who experienced the Wish Journey demonstrated greater health-related quality of life, with a significant reduction in their perceptions of their own physical limitations.
★Wish Capture
★Wish Design
★Wish Realization
★Wish Effects
Read more about the impact of a fulfilled Wish
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