2020 Issue 5
The Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department
Prioritizing Diversity and Inclusion in the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department As champions of patient and family-centered care, the child life and creative arts therapy department sounded a commitment to take an active role in both addressing systemic racism and finding ways to enhance our programming to meet the needs of all we serve. With valuable guidance from Mount Sinai’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, we are initiating recurring discussion and work group sessions within our department to support us in embodying anti-racist attitudes and reflecting this in our everyday practice. Several of our staff are receiving training to serve as ‘moderators’ in these discussions. Additionally, three members of our team have been trained as co-facilitators in the Pediatrics Chats for Change series - a forum that engages all students, staff and faculty in the department of pediatrics around the topic of systemic racism. The child life internship program has also revised its scoring criteria for applications to reflect greater equity between students with variable educational experience, and we have taken steps to bring greater equity to recruitment of staff as well. Our Youth and Family Advisory Councils have also taken up the practice of specifically looking at agenda items that come before them through the lens of equitability and anti-racism. And our Clinical Practice Council has compiled an anti-racism resource list for parents and children. The upcoming edition of SURGE: The Zone’s Teen Art and Literary Magazine will focus on patient-created works that connect with themes of social justice and racism. Our KidZone TV production team and supporting clinical staff have also curated live shows that promote diversity and inclusion. These programs have used book readings, art making, song performance and games as entry points for children and families to engage in dialogue or fresh learning about topics ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement, to secular and religious days including Juneteenth, Indigenous People’s Day, Tet Trung Thu (Mooncake/ mid-Autumn festival), Tsukimi, and Diwali. We also continue to host a weekly KidZone TV art history show, which highlights predominantly black artists from New York City.
A Special Sukkot Observance in the NICU In October, the NICU celebrated Sukkot with our Jewish families! Occurring five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is a seven-day holiday that memorializes the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years after escaping slavery in Egypt. Sukkot, meaning “Festival of Tabernacles,” is one of Judaism’s three central pilgrimage festivals, along with Passover and Shavuot. On this holiday, families traditionally build a sukkah, a temporary hut to dwell in and feast in with family. One shakes lulav and etrog (palm, myrtle, and willow branches and lemons) as part of the celebration. The origins of this holiday can be traced back to an ancient autumn festival called hag ha-asif where thanksgiving is given for a good harvest. Our NICU babies are unable to celebrate this holiday with their families, so NICU child life specialists made special milestone cards to help celebrate the first Sukkot for our babies! Our NICU families were appreciative of this offering and picked out the cards of their liking to take pictures with their newborns. To wish someone a “Happy Sukkot,” say “Chag Sameach!” Mountsinai.org/childlife
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Meet our Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Interns Child Life Intern Krista Dolan: Krista is a student in the child life program at the Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Born and raised in Nebraska, she is a Midwesterner who has spent time on both coasts. Before pursuing a career in child life, Krista was a live-in nanny. She enjoys spending her free time with friends and has a knack for organization. Fun fact about Krista: she was born on New Year’s Day! Here are a few of Krista’s favorite things - favorite musician: Tim McGraw; favorite movie: Inside Out; and favorite TV show: The Office.
Music Intern Michelle Geisler: Michelle is in her second and final year of graduate school at NYU, pursuing a master's degree in music therapy. She has been a resident of NYC for almost ten years and has worked as an educator, youth engagement professional and a performer at theatres around the country. Every summer for the past five years, she has proudly served as the arts director for an overnight camp in Pennsylvania. Michelle is very excited to be spending this year as a music therapy intern at Kravis Children's Hospital! Michelle is very excited to be spending this year as a music therapy intern at Kravis Children's Hospital!
KidZone TV intern Jackie Kraft: Jackie is an acting major with a minor in communications at Marymount Manhattan College. She is from Glen Mills, PA and hopes to perform on a show like SNL someday. The interns had lots of fun working on shows such as Bingo, Telephone, Craft Wars and more! KidZone TV intern Julia Lawrenz: Julia is a senior communications and business administration major at Baylor University. She is from San Diego, California and had so much fun taking in the Big Apple during her stay in NYC. She hopes to work production for a reality TV show someday. KidZone TV intern Emily Gasparek: Emily is a theatre and new media major with a minor in drama therapy at Marymount Manhattan College. She is from Long Island, NY and is excited to be graduating this December.
Shared Governance Empowers Child Life Staff In July 2019, the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department rolled out a Shared Governance model. This model helps streamline the department’s committees and initiatives into three main councils: education, clinical practice and professional inquiry. The clinical practice council recently started a new term with the addition of new members. The council is now comprised of child life specialists, an art therapist, a recreational therapist and the Kid Zone TV manager. Together, they will all bring a broad range of perspectives and expertise to the clinical practices of the department. Over the past year, the clinical practice committee has revised the department’s introduction to services flyers, implemented a new dress code policy and streamlined the planning of holiday parties and activities for the inpatient units, outpatient clinics and the Zone. This council seeks new ideas and initiatives from the child life department at large and is looking forward to another productive year.
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KidZone TV Three Day Intensives Looks to Share Skills and Experience of Successful Pediatric CCTV Programming Every year, the KidZone TV studio team looks forward to inviting Child Life and related professionals to our studio for our annual three day intensive “LIVE form NY: Creating and Enhancing your Pediatric CCTV channel”. In this, our twelfth year of this conference, we met the challenge of remotely hosting a large group of very curious pediatric specialists from all over North America. In fact, demand for this workshop has increased so much that we were privileged to host a second intensive this year! Our participants had the opportunity to meet our highly experienced staff, and gain an understanding of many ways in which incorporating the modality of closed circuit television into their department can help reach their pediatric populations. Our opening session, hosted by our director Diane Rode, illustrated how the use of video creation in a patient centered way can be used to capture meaningful moments and create legacy pieces. Diane also showed how video can be beneficial at all levels of production, from handheld devices to full studio productions. Child Life Specialists Morgan Stojanowski and Cheryl Strauss presented on the importance of integrating the studio into the child life department, aligning it to the therapeutic and psychosocial goals established for each patient by their child life specialist. Child Life Specialist Gretchen Greenlee and Studio Manager Mathea Jacobs discussed how to develop appropriate programming to meet the unique needs of hospitalized children and their families. Incorporating clinical staff and collaborating with patients and families on creating shows were also discussed. Mathea and our staff spoke with participants on different ways to promote shows to patients and families, involving community groups, special guests, interns and volunteers in live programming. A virtual tour of the studio allowed our participants to gain an understanding of resources available in the studio for both staff and patients to be creative with! Production Supervisor and Patient Technology Administrator Lu Borges led a special half day technology session for participants interested in growing their use of technology as a creative tool with patients. Participants discussed technology as a therapeutic medium, learned how to perform, edit and print 3D scans, and experienced a hands-on interactive session using telepresence robots.
Staff Accomplishments Music Therapist Todd O’Connor, was a panelist in September’s hospital-wide grand rounds. The topic was Practical Approaches to Pain Management. Child Life Specialists Marianne Porzelt, MS, CCLS, Ali Spikestein, MS, CCLS and Patient Tech Administrator Lu Borges presented in the CLGNY professional conference. The topic was “ Child Life Programming in the Epicenter of a Pandemic: Bringing innovation and technology to the frontline in New York City” Our KidZone TV Studio team Lu Borges and Mathea Jacobs, along with supporting clinical staff Diane Rode, Morgan Stojanowski, Cheryl Strauss, Gretchen Greenlee held two three day KZTV Studio intensives this year.
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Patient Art Highlight
Angela Lopez, 14, created this watercolor painting during her recent admission to the hospital. Angela shared: “My drawing is how I felt during my hospital stay and drew whatever came to mind. At first, I thought I was just drawing flowers but I decided to go crazy and let my mind out. The eyes in the flowers represent how I was being watched by the Doctors and Nurses; all of them being different people. You can also see a butterfly needle on the top left alongside a bottle of pills symbolizing the times they pricked me to draw blood, and the pills being the medicine they gave me. You see that person hiding in the flowers? That’s me, trying to hide from the harsh reality.” Angela also shared that art making was helpful during her hospital stay, giving her an opportunity to express her thoughts and feelings by creating meaningful images. Angela’s artwork, along with her writing, will also be featured in our Winter 2021 edition of SURGE Magazine. Thanks to Angela for sharing her beautiful artwork!
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