Working with the kids and families is quite a privilege!

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for helping our kids. I have had the privilege of working with these families for almost twenty years and have seen the effects of help from the community. Some of them are here speaking with you today and I am still humbled by their courage when facing the challenges they do.

We have quite a healing environment here, and thanks to many of you we are able to make our environment of care even more nurturing.

In Recreational Therapy we are often asked about what we do most with the kids in the children's hospital--the simple answer is that we help them to cope and adjust with health care encounters and do as much as they can to be kids within the environment. We do this through medical teaching with some play and some real medical equipment. Many times we are clearing up misconceptions they may have about the hospital or clearing up something they misinterpreted. We teach them the sequence and sensations so they know what to expect and help alleviate some of their concerns. We also help them to get through the procedures with the use of breathing techniques, guided imagery, distraction and relaxation. However, when you watch what we are doing with the kids, you may hear us asking them to use their imaginations to pretend they are "Ariel who is slowly blowing bubbles easily and gently as she rests in the ocean..." We do this to help them do what is needed for the procedure and to help them relax during the event--The ability kids have to use their imaginations is phenomenal and is often the best tool they have to get through a simple blood draw or even a more intense procedure. The idea is if they have some sense of control, they will be better able to cope and adjust to this health care encounter and future ones. There are many things we do to help the kids in the children's hospital to heal, cope, adjust and get themselves back to what they should be doing--being a kid!

Additionally, we have some play facilities here that really let the kids know that we value them-in one of them is an Air Hockey table that was purchased last year because some of the monies donated were used to help us purchase this KidZpace air hockey table. The kids absolutely love it and often it helps them to get up out of bed and work on getting better.

Thank you again for supporting the N.C. Children's Promise and helping us help the kids!

Laurie Reddick
Recreational Therapy