“enCourage Kids has remained a constant supporter of our hospital, in good times and in bad. EKF understands the vulnerable population we serve, identifies the unique needs our children and families have and works tirelessly to help provide the optimal care they so much deserve. EKF levels the playing field for our patients, families and institution as a whole, so that no one is ever left behind.”
– Nicole Perez, CCLS, Coordinator of Child Life Services – NYC H+H/Elmhurst
Assessing Healthcare Needs
enCourage Kids prides itself on making sure we are providing what our hospital partners need, when they need it.
As we emerge from the pandemic, we have been conducting a needs assessment to over 400 hospitals to better understand what their needs are and how we can support them.
Our partners have expressed ongoing concern in four key areas that our Pediatric Hospital Support Program (PHSP) has funded over the years, and where there is an increasing need for help:
1. Staffing Issues in child life
2. Creative Therapy programs that address mental and social anxieties
3. Space Issues such as unwelcoming treatment rooms and loss of space due to COVID needs
4. Emotional Well-Being of patients due to fear arising from issues before and after COVID
Staffing Issues
Due to the pandemic, many hospitals faced a reduction in staff, including child life specialists and mental health professionals, as they enacted hiring freezes and furloughs.
And though the census for children in some hospitals were lower due to COVID-19, pediatric staff were recruited to help in other units and even with the psychosocial needs of staff. Additionally, with playrooms closed to limit exposure, child life specialists were stretched thin in providing the necessary interactions, such as group sessions, to help their young patients.
A Certified Child Life Specialist at The Children's Hospital at HCMC in Minneapolis, MN shared that one of the biggest challenges as a result of the pandemic was decreased staffing. Their patients tend to have very high psychosocial needs, however, their facility doesn't have the funds to support non-billable services like child life and therefore can’t increase staffing to sufficiently meet patient needs. “We typically have 1 Certified Child Life Specialist to cover the ‘house’ which includes Pediatrics, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Burn, Surgery and consults, each day.”
As hospitals begin to open up more to young patients, there is a concern that hiring freezes and furloughs will remain in place. With a “return to normal”, hospitals will also be seeing a return to an increase in hospitalization for children, with the added concern of an increase in mental health issues that have arisen from the pandemic.
Creative Therapy
Staffing issues are also a concern for those who rely on help from creative art therapists, credentialed professionals whose work focuses on the anxieties young patients face in a hospital environment.
Therapies in areas such as music and art are proven to greatly soothe and reduce patient anxiety, increase patient cooperation with medical procedures, and provide arts education for pediatric patients.
In a recent New York Times article:
“The healing power of music — lauded by philosophers from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Pete Seeger — is now being validated by medical research. It is used in targeted treatments for asthma, autism, depression and more, including brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and stroke.
“While musical therapies are rarely stand-alone treatments, they are increasingly used as adjuncts to other forms of medical treatment. They help people cope with their stress and mobilize their body’s own capacity to heal.”
Child life departments will be increasingly reliant on these therapists to help deal with the added social and mental anxieties young patients will have developed because of the pandemic. So funding these programs in a reduced budget environment is a big concern.
Space Issues
Because the pediatric population was lower in some hospitals during the pandemic, spaces were utilized for other purposes.
The average age in patient rooms jumped from 7 to 78, vibrant playrooms were dressed down to become relaxing spaces for nurses and staff, and even office space was claimed and taken over in order to care for COVID patients.
Hospitals had to do what they could to increase their capacity to serve patients as the demand for hospital beds and medical care rose. For many facilities, this means that they will need to recreate child-friendly spaces and offices for staff like child life. Treatment rooms and playrooms that were taken over will need to be rebuilt and redecorated.
“We had to take apart our treatment room and there are plans for us to move to another floor once the pandemic is over,” shared Tracey Kunj-Ramen from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. “The unit would become smaller and I would need a new playroom and kid-friendly treatment room.”
As hospitals stepped up during the COVID-19 outbreak, they unfortunately faced financial pressures. The pandemic caused a sharp decline in hospital revenue and an increase in costs.
Many hospitals, especially those that rely on philanthropic support, will need help from partners like enCourage Kids to help create new spaces and bring these spaces to life.
Emotional Well-Being
A common response from our partners regarding future concerns of their patients was their emotional well-being, especially an increase in fear because of the pandemic.
And our partners fear that they will lack the necessary resources to help make the hospital environment a welcoming one as patients begin to return. From the admissions area to treatment rooms, every touchstone a patient encounters makes a big difference in their experience and recovery.
“The most difficult challenge we face right now is not being able to have the dedicated time to spend with our patients to get to know them, assess their coping, and educate them on their diagnosis,” shared child life specialist Alyssa Pettingill. “Due to our services not being billable, we often have to ‘jump in’ at the end of a visit to do a ‘quick check in’ which is not ideal after a patient has seen so many providers already.”
We will continue this dialogue with the child life community over the coming months to best assess how we can address these needs with your support.
Will you help us address these needs?