Did You Know That Just 6 Minutes of Reading Can Reduce Stress by Up to 68%?*

*According to research by the University of Sussex

Each of us, or a member of our family, will likely be hospitalized several times in our lifetime. According to the 2023 Statistical Bulletin, the average hospital stay in Poland in 2022 was 5.3 days. However, there are departments where the stay is way longer. The Ronald McDonald Foundation has calculated that the average stay in the Oncology and Hematology Ward is 100.5 days. A hospital stay is a challenge and induces a big amount of stress. Scientific literature identifies a phenomenon known as post-hospital syndrome. It is due to the fact that treatment and hospitalization is associated with the loss of emotional and physical balance of the patient. During the hospital stay, the patient changes their diet, physical activity, sleep habits and experiences stress. 

When we or our siblings, parents, grandparents, or friends were hospitalized, we noticed that one of the most common requests from patients was to bring them books. On the other hand, many of us know the feeling of running out of space for new books at home while wanting to give the old ones a new life rather than throwing them away.

We combined these two needs, and that’s how the idea for our project was born. We want to provide patients and their caregivers a way to escape the hospital/hospice reality and at the same time give new life to books we’ve already read.

Having books available in hospital wards can positively impact the risk factors associated with post-hospital syndrome. A small library encourages patients to move around the ward, change their position in bed, or read at a table. Books also improve sleep quality and reduce stress for both patients and their companions. According to research by the University of Sussex, after just six minutes of reading, cortisol levels—the stress hormone—can drop by up to 68%. Reading is more effective than drinking tea, playing games, walking, or listening to music. It slows the heart rate and relaxes the muscles. Experts recommend using hospital time for reading. This is especially crucial for younger patients, where reading together can replace screen time on tablets or smartphones.

Over the last 10 years, there have been several campaigns to collect books for hospitals. These were both nationwide campaigns (e.g., organized by the Prime Minister of Poland) and smaller, local ones concerning individual hospitals or specific wards. The need for access to books during hospitalization is unquestionable. However, despite numerous actions of this type, this need is never fully satisfied.

As part of our project, we will collect books for all age groups (from the youngest to the oldest), including both more ambitious titles that require several days or weeks to read for long-term patients, as well as lighter reads that can be finished in just a few hours. We want to fill our small libraries with books on a variety of topics (history, biology, geography), so everyone can find something interesting. Perhaps someone will even discover a new passion! Additionally, we’ll collect books in different languages, not only for non-polish speaking patients but also because many of us like reading in different languages.We hope that our books will help during long or short stays, operations, or while waiting for test results. Through this project, the books will be distributed to selected hospital wards across Poland.Our ambition is to equip as many hospital wards in Poland as possible with books. In the first place, we would like to focus on small, district hospitals, which so far may not have received any book donations, and on wards where books should be supplemented or replaced. Addictionaly, if possible, we would like to provide books to shelters and warming centers for the homeless.