Xploro’s first Dutch customer is Prinses Máxima Centrum, Europe’s largest pediatric oncology hospital and research facility. Everything they do, from the building design to the food that is served in the kitchen is the result of consultation with patients and parents. That’s why the pediatric patient experience is second to none.

Máxima, which opened its doors in 2018, is the central hub for pediatric oncology in the Netherlands and treats around 600 children every year. With more than 450 researchers and 900 healthcare professionals based at the site in Utrecht, it works closely with other Dutch and international organizations to improve the treatments and outcomes of the children in its care.

M4you app

In August 2024, we helped Máxima launch M4you, a unique platform that is at the heart of the center’s patient experience strategy and a ‘digital front door’ for patients. It allows patients to interact with each other, find out what’s going on at the hospital, and learn about their illness and treatment.

We’re incredibly proud to say that Xploro powers M4you, which, in a first for us, is a white-labeled single app download that seamlessly connects the Xploro buddy, storybooks, games and environments with Máxima’s web-based patient experience content.

The M4you app is designed for all children being treated at the Prinses Máxima Centrum and is developed for and by children of all ages. With M4you, peers can chat with each other and exchange experiences and tips. Children themselves can search for information and activities that are important and interesting to them. Information about examinations and treatment and what happens in the body. But also videos, games, activities, challenges and info about the Máxima Center. There’s lots to do and discover with M4you!

Marieke Timmermans
Head of developmental care at Prinses Máxima Centrum

Outdoor games area at Prinses Maxima provides perfect pediatric patient experience

This outdoor play area is one of several places for exercise and socializing

Interactive game projected onto corridor floor at Prinses Maxima improves patient experience

Games are everywhere at Prinses Maxima. This interactive game is projected onto the corridor floor

Patients can try on outfits and put on theatrical make-up in the Dressing Up room

The reception at Prinses Maxima looks more like the entrance to a 5 star hotel than a hospital

Patients can get into the groove in this fully equipped recording studio

Xploro team members play table football at Prinses maxima

Xploro team members, Nikki and Kris, battle it out on the pitch

As a key partner in the development of M4you, the Xploro team spent the day at Máxima. We attended the launch event and found out how children benefit from its state of the art facilities.

Patients first

Everything at Máxima has a keen focus on the children who spend time there. From the bedrooms and treatment areas to the music room and the adventure playground. If something doesn’t benefit a patient’s physical or mental health, it isn’t even considered for inclusion.

When you walk around the center, everywhere you look you see design with young patients in mind. The reception desk has kid-sized steps so children can see who they’re talking to when they check in. When a patient has a blood test, they can take the sample to the laboratory. They can then see for themselves what happens to it next. The way the center looks feels a million miles away from a regular hospital. Even the smells you’d associate with a hospital are absent.

Innovative design

During our tour of the facilities, we were struck by some of the considered innovations designed to make patients’ time at the Máxima a little easier.

The bedrooms, for example, were set up so parents could stay with their child in an interconnecting room. This means they can be close to each other whilst allowing both to have some privacy and comfort during their time away from home. Additionally, for children undergoing chemotherapy, the chemo pumps were located outside the bedroom. This simple design means patients have some peace and quiet from the whirrs and beeps, and benefit from uninterrupted sleep.

Play time is important for all children and being in a wheelchair doesn’t stop that at the Máxima. The playground, as with the entire center, is wheelchair friendly. There’s even a wheelchair trampoline. Patients roll onto it, strap their chair in, and bounce to their heart’s content.

Every now and then, you’ll see a child riding a specialized tricycle with an infusion pole attached to the back. Fun doesn’t always have to stop for lengthy treatments and this innovation has been part of Máxima since 2020.