Excellence in Communication Through Creative Execution - New for 2018

Summary of work

Children with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis no longer have to suffer in silence.

Arthritis is commonly seen as an ‘old person’s disease’. But what most people don’t know, is that young children can get arthritis too.

Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA) only affects 1,096 children in the UK. As a result there is little public knowledge or awareness of the condition, which has culminated in a lack of understanding about the severity of its symptoms. So much so, that many children are often forced to struggle through their days at school, unable to communicate to teachers or carers just how severe their symptoms are when their condition flares up.

That’s why we created the Ouchieband. These two-tone wristbands allow children with sJIA to discreetly let someone know that they need urgent attention.

To support the Ouchieband, we also designed the UK’s first patient support pack for children with the condition – as the only other materials that existed were aimed at adults. The pack, which introduced a character called Ouchie, empowered them through storytelling and a series of fun activities.

Judges' comments

Ouchie is a well thought out campaign to help children often suffering in silence with pain from systemic idiopathic arthritis (sJIA). The Ouchie band is a fantastic means of enabling children to ask for help without being embarrassed, and was supported by lots of creative and well-crafted multimedia materials.