The Cherese Mari Laulhere Child Life Program at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital has been awarded a grant from The Toy Foundation to expand its successful Sensory Program. The Sensory Program, launched with a grant from The Toy Foundation last year, provides the Child Life Program with the resources they need to soothe and deescalate children and teens experiencing mental, emotional, and/or behavioral health crises. The Sensory Program brings a calming environment to kids while they are being treated and cared for by Miller Children’s & Women’s care teams.
This year, The Toy Foundation’s wonderful new grant allows Child Life to take the program piloted in the emergency department (ED) and outpatient surgery unit last year and bring it to kids experiencing sensory overstimulation in Miller Children’s pediatric inpatient units and the outpatient clinics at the Cherese Mari Laulhere Children’s Village.
“Last year we were able to make such a positive difference for kids and teens in the ED and outpatient surgery unit with our Sensory Program thanks to the grant from The Toy Foundation,” said Rita Goshert, director, Cherese Mari Laulhere Child Life Program, Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital. “This year we are so excited for the opportunity to offer this important intervention to more children in the hospital who need it. This program offers children, parents, and our team with the tools and resources needed to provide soothing and relief to these children, making the hospital experience so much better for everyone.”
Miller Children’s continues to see a large increase in children experiencing mental and behavioral health crises and diagnoses, and children whose senses become overwhelmed by illness, injury, and the hospital environment. This year’s grant provides key resources needed to continue to meet this need while building and expanding on last year’s success. It will enable Miller Children’s care teams to offer the Sensory Program’s soothing, calming interventions to more children in the hospital’s outpatient clinics.
The Toy Foundation’s grant last year allowed Child Life to purchase special equipment designed to provide soothing and diversion through sensory intervention with sensory toys and two mobile sensory stations that offer a color changing light display, bright fiberoptic tails, and music if desired. This year, Child Life will purchase items like an interactive projector, liquid floor tiles, a sensory mood light table, and wall mounted sensory light displays, along with sensory toys and other items that build on our existing program. The variety and adaptability of items in the toolkit allows our team to personalize the program to fit each child’s unique needs. Child Life will also continue training hospital care teams and house supervisors so they can implement the program when Child Life isn’t available, maximizing the number of children who can benefit.
“The Toy Foundation’s gifts both this year and last year demonstrate the importance and transformative power of philanthropy,” said Rob Gunsalus, president of the Memorial Medical Center Foundation. “Without the generous grant from The Toy Foundation, our hospital wouldn’t have been able to provide this crucial service, which has helped and continues to help so many children with special sensory needs cope positively with the hospital environment and heal.”