PATIENT CARE
In this scene from “The Martin Family Dinner,” family members talk about the ways COVID-19 changed everyday life.
Pediatric Psychologist Creates Animated Video to Help Families Cope With COVID-19 Pandemic When COVID-19 arrived, stress and anxiety were common reactions for children and the adults who care for them. Knowing they would need some tools to cope with a global pandemic, an OU Health pediatric psychologist created an animated video that models healthy communication during an uncertain time. In some ways, the work is not unlike what Noel Jacobs, Ph.D., does day to day with patients and families in the Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic – helping them to understand, talk about and navigate life amid the uncertainty of sickness. With COVID-19, he inserted
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those same skills inside the story and dialogue of a family coming to terms with the upheaval of the virus. The result is the animated video “The Martin Family Dinner,” which is designed to help children understand issues related to the pandemic and to help parents have supportive conversations with their children. “In my work, and the work of all pediatric psychologists at OU Health, the most important goal we have is for kids to grow up healthy and empowered, and to give them tools for coping during the rough parts. In a sense, this animated video encapsulates that goal – for kids and families to get through
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