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Child Life Spotlight: Empowering Children and Families to Master Challenges in Health Care

Child Life Spotlight: Empowering Children and Families to Master Challenges in Health Care

by | Mar 26, 2020 | Spotlight

As an organization, we are committed to treating the “whole child” – mind, body and spirit. Through our multidisciplinary team of experts, we make sure the patient is comfortable at every stage of their treatment. The Child Life department helps to achieve this positive experience and is a resource at the Dallas and Frisco campuses. Through this spotlight, we hope you will understand a bit more about the field of Child Life and learn how you can contact the department for your next visit.

What Is Child Life?
Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) focus on the social, emotional, developmental and educational needs of children and teenagers in the hospital setting. To help reduce fear and promote coping during the visit, a CCLS can provide the following services to your child:

  • Prepare and support the patient for medical procedures
  • Educate them about their diagnosis
  • Teach coping techniques to use during medical experiences
  • Engage in medical play
  • Provide outlets for self-expression
  • Support for brothers and sisters

Being Admitted as an Inpatient at the Dallas Campus?
Staying at the hospital can sometimes be stressful. Children may be nervous, worried, have questions and/or have behavioral changes prior to a hospitalization.

  • A CCLS will meet with your child on admission day to provide age-appropriate preparation for their hospitalization and answer any questions they may have.
  • Pre-admission tours are an extra service available to your child. These can be beneficial to help alleviate nervousness prior to admission day.

Here for a Clinic Appointment?
Coming to the hospital for a clinic appointment can be stressful, too! If your child is nervous or has questions about coming to their appointment, a CCLS can help prepare the child by answering questions as well as be present for the following:

  • Cast removal
  • IV placement
  • Lab draw
  • Surgery discussion
  • Joint injection
  • Radiology procedure (MRI, CT, ultrasound, VCUG, etc.)
  • New diagnosis
  • Brace compliance
  • Pin removal
  • Pill swallowing
  • Dressing change
  • Anything potentially stressful

Services at the Frisco Campus:

  • Two Certified Child Life Specialists
  • Work with patients who are seen in the Fracture Clinic:
    • Prepare patients for casting and procedures
    • Develop a coping plan
    • Provides support throughout casting
  • Sports Medicine:
    • Provides support throughout procedures (joint injections, suture removal, etc.)
    • Pre-op tours
    • Presence on surgery day
  • The team also provides their services to the following departments:
    • Rheumatology and Infusion
    • Orthopedics
    • Radiology
    • Orthotics & Prosthetics
    • Physical and Occupational Therapy
    • Day Surgery

Who Makes Up the Team?
Certified Child Life Specialists are professionals who are certified through the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP). They hold bachelors and/or master’s degrees in child development, psychology or a related field. Their training includes a specialized internship in a pediatric hospital setting. Other team members include program coordinators, who have a background in child development and volunteers assist the activity coordinators in organizing patient activities in the inpatient playroom.

Meet Our Child Life Team
Ashleigh Kinney, L.C.S.W. (Director, Child Life) – Dallas
Andrea Brown, B.S., CCLS – Dallas
Molly Bass, B.S., CCLS – Dallas
Mellina McCormick, B.S., CCLS – Dallas
Ashley Hargrove, M.S., CCLS – Dallas
Morgan Brinson, M.S., CCLS – Dallas
Dulce Rubio, Child Life Program Coordinator – Dallas
Remington Rosene, Child Life Program Coordinator – Dallas
Laurie Hamilton, M.S., CCLS – Frisco
Marissa Willis, B.S., CCLS – Frisco

How to Contact the Child Life Department?
As a parent or caregiver, you can request that any staff member contact a Certified Child Life Specialist to meet with your child during their appointment.

To schedule a visit with a Certified Child Life Specialist or a pre-admission tour, please contact the Child Life department.

Dallas
214-559-7795
child.life@tsrh.org.

Frisco
469-525-7187
childlife.frisco@tsrh.org

Learn more about the Child Life department.

Mental Conditioning for Young Athletes – An Interview With Our Psychologist

Mental Conditioning for Young Athletes – An Interview With Our Psychologist

by | May 9, 2017 | Sports Medicine

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we asked psychologist, Erica Force, Ph.D., C.C.-A.A.S.P., to tell us about how to improve a young athlete’s mental health with mental conditioning.

What is mental conditioning?

This is a type of training where an athlete becomes familiar with his or her mental skills and ability to improve or optimize those skills. The goal is to improve performance in sport by improving mental skills such as focusing, confidence and intensity.

Who needs mental conditioning?

Since our mental skills are critical in sports whether we are just starting or are competing at high levels, all athletes would benefit from mental conditioning.

What are some examples of mental conditioning exercises for teams?

Teamwork activities don’t have to be sport-specific. A team may learn to work better together with team-building activities where the focus is on solving a problem or completing a task without talking. These activities can help a team increase communication and cohesion.

What do you recommend for individuals?

Reciting positive phrases like “I’ve got this” during training and performance can help build confidence. Many professional athletes prepare for competition using their imagination to visualize their success in an activity; this is called mental imagery.

How often should these types of exercises be performed?

Teams can benefit from making time to practice mental skills on a regular basis. Many coaches make time at the beginning of the season and continue to encourage practice on a monthly or weekly basis. Individual athletes can adopt positive mental habits into daily activities. Mental conditioning can improve performance just like physical conditioning and practicing technical skills. Thus, mental skills are equally important to practice!

What advice do you have for parents of young athletes?

Most parents know that positive mental skills have the potential to improve performance; what they don’t realize is that the contrary is also true. When a child has a poor attitude or is faced with a stressful social situation, their sports performance can decline. Creating open dialogue and helping your child develop his or her mental toughness can help a child perform in sports and recover from setbacks and injuries more quickly.

Learn more about injury prevention and pediatric sports medicine.

Get to Know Our Staff: Dwight Putnam in Prosthetics

Get to Know Our Staff: Dwight Putnam in Prosthetics

by | Jan 17, 2017 | Spotlight

Dwight Putnam is a prosthetist who has been working at Scottish Rite Hospital for 10 years. Get to know him and why he loves working at our hospital.

What was your first job? What path did you take to get here?
My first job was making sandwiches at Schlotzsky’s… I took a very circular path…Started pre-med and ended up an artist, which eventually took me back into allied health.

What made you want to work here?
I could see the immediate impact of my work on the lives of my patients and their families

What skills do you need for your job?
An open mind, an open ear and a few hand skills…

What is your favorite prosthetic device that you’ve created for a patient?
One of the first specialty devices I made was a silicone finger for playing clarinet. It was a pivotal experience in my career because, at that point, it became clear to me how the patients at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children could benefit from my skills and knowledge.

What’s your favorite thing about the hospital?
Our TEAM approach to treating patient families

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Grizzly Adams

What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
I proposed to my wife at the top of the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru. We hadn’t talked about marriage up until that point, but I figured as far as the scenery and the company, it couldn’t get any better.

What’s the last book you read?
Passionate Nation: The Epic History of Texas by James Haley – still reading this one, it is pretty thick…

What is something people don’t know about you?
I am the youngest of four children; I have 13 nieces and nephews that I am very proud of.

Exploring Innovations in Imaging

Exploring Innovations in Imaging

by | Apr 29, 2016 | Research & Innovation

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is only the fourth hospital in Texas to employ an advanced imaging technology called EOS®, to be used in specific patient cases. The system produces long length images of the spine and lower extremities with significantly less radiation than is normally required using other imaging tools. There is also the additional capability of creating 3D images of the bony skeleton that can provide our surgeons a more complete review of a patient’s anatomy for treatment planning.

EOS has the unique ability to simultaneously generate two views of the entire spine or lower extremities in approximately 10 to 15 seconds. Today, the most common alternative method of digital X-ray requires at least 30 minutes. This added efficiency provides a better experience to patients and their families.

The system captures weight-bearing 3D images in the upright or squatting positions that are 1:1, meaning there are no areas of the scan that are distorted or magnified. By using these images, Scottish Rite Hospital surgeons can more accurately understand the unique aspects of a patient’s skeletal deformity and better prepare for surgery.
In addition, unique EOS software created specifically for pediatric patients, called MicroDose, exposes the patient to six to eight times less radiation than traditional X-ray equipment.

EOS imaging is based in Paris, with a U.S. subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The hospital’s radiology team is working closely with medical physicists to examine and maximize the potential capabilities and efficiencies of this groundbreaking technology.

**This article was featured in the 2016 Volume 1 Rite Up Magazine. View the magazine online.