July 7, 2020

Calling all innovators! The Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC) needs your help in identifying pediatric device projects that support COVID-19 related and other critical need projects.

SWPDC is a multi-institutional consortium supported by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) P50 grant and anchored by Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine that is dedicated to improving children’s health by supporting pediatric device innovators to create novel pediatric medical devices with local, regional, and national institutional and innovation partners.

The consortium is receiving supplemental funding to be able to award $100,000 in SWPDC 2020 Impact Grants for COVID-19 and other critical needs areas in the form of seed grants or in-kind support for related pediatric device projects. Applications are being accepted from July 8 through August 5. All pediatric device innovators can apply.

“Across the country, entrepreneurs are pivoting to address the health care challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Chester Koh, executive director and contact PI of SWPDC, Texas Children’s pediatric urologist, and Baylor Professor of Urology, OB/GYN, and Pediatrics. “This is a great opportunity to be part of this effort, especially as children are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable population for COVID-19.”

Interested applicants should complete the application here. The application consists of a short questionnaire, an itemized budget (up to $25,000 max) and an optional, but highly encouraged, one- to two-minute video pitch. Further information may be requested by the SWPDC staff, and funding will be made available September 1.

In this rapid cycle opportunity, these grants will be awarded to pediatric device companies as seed funding or in-kind services to support activities that improve the health care of the pediatric community during this pandemic. This opportunity is nonexclusive to COVID-19 and can also apply to other critical needs areas such as addressing the opioid epidemic. Medical devices with adult indications that are expanding their focus to the pediatric population are also welcome to apply.

Examples related to COVID-19:

  • Devices that address an underlying medical condition that puts pediatric patients at increased risk for developing complications related to COVID-19
  • PPE designed specifically to fit pediatric patients (to protect pediatric oncology and immune deficiency patients, to reduce community transmission)
  • Advances in life saving ICU equipment designed specifically for pediatric patients
  • Devices that permit pediatric patients to continue life-saving therapies at home (e.g. therapy for pediatric oncology patients)
  • Devices that facilitate effective remote pediatric care (e.g. devices that relay critical information back to physicians caring for pediatric patients with chronic diseases)
  • Devices that address pediatric device shortages (specifically related to COVID-19)

Joni Justice shares her experience participating in last month’s peaceful protest on racial injustice and how each of us can be a catalyst for change in promoting racial equality, unity and respect in our workplace and in our communities. Read more

Some of Texas Children’s most beloved employees are back in the office! Members of Texas Children’s Pawsitive Play program started seeing patients again last week prompting some much-needed laughter, smiles and fun.

Designed to enhance the emotional well-being of patients and families in the hospital, the program’s animal-assisted therapy dogs provide support to those who may be having trouble coping with a hospital stay, new diagnosis or certain medical procedure.

Our dogs work full time alongside their animal-assisted therapy coordinators and consult with the multidisciplinary team to provide goal-oriented, therapeutic interventions and emotional support for hospitalized children as well as families and staff.

“We want to ensure thoughtful and intentional visits for each consult,” said Diane Kaulen, manager of the Texas Children’s Child Life Department. “Our animal assisted therapy handlers’ work alongside the medical team to align their interventions to the individualized plan of care.”

This is especially true during the pandemic when anxiety is high and safety is of upmost concern. To ensure the safety of our patients, their families, and our staff – including our therapy dogs and their handlers – the Pawsitive Play program is resuming in a limited capacity and with added restrictions.

We need your help in enforcing these new rules. When requesting a consult for the dogs or when encountering the dogs and their handlers at one of our campuses, please keep in the mind the following:

  • Animal Assisted Therapy will return to patient care for our inpatient populations only. Ambulatory and Emergency Center visits will not resume at this time.
  • Per our normal guidelines, our dogs are not allowed to visit patients on any type of isolation.
  • Patient referrals/consults must have a documented negative COVID-19 test.
  • Patients and family members must wear a mask and wash their hands prior to and after touching the animals.
  • Stopping to pet the animals in the hallways is discouraged due to social distancing guidelines. They will continue to wear their “Please Don’t Pet Me” vests as a friendly reminder of this protective restriction.
  • If employees are in a situation where petting one of our animals is permissible, they will need to wear a mask, practice hand hygiene before and after petting the dog and practice social distancing during the encounter by allowing the dog to approach them.

“We are glad to be back helping our patients have the best experience and outcomes possible during their stay with us,” Kaulen said. “We also appreciate everyone’s help in keeping our dogs and handlers safe during this unprecedented time.”

For more information on the Pawsitive Play Program, click here.

July 6, 2020

The Place of Danger

The following passage was written by Texas Children’s Chaplain Jessica Shannon.

Spiritual play is one of the interventions and gifts that sets Pediatric Chaplains apart from Chaplains who serve adult populations.  It allows us to use play to guide children in processing their feelings and find both hope and meaning.  Essentially, spiritual play creates a field where we can meet children where they are.  We hop into their world and provide spiritual care in a way that is tailored to children. It can look like any form of play with games, coloring, and general silliness or with a specific spiritual intervention. My personal favorites are prayer activities, such as prayer bubbles and echo prayers, bibliotherapy and Godly Play. Godly Play is where we will land today.

Godly Play consists of Montessori-based stories that can appear light on the surface but create deep, meaningful conversations.  The stories are Judeo-Christian, but Pediatric Chaplains adapt the language to be interfaith, allowing all children to experience these stories and find meaning in their diagnosis, hospital admission and circumstances.  Godly Play stories have opened heavy doors with patients.

In one particular story, “The Parable of the Good Shepherd,” we find “a place of danger.”  Children are asked to reflect on what their place of danger is, and like all thoughts shared during Godly Play, no answer is right or wrong.  None of you would be surprised to hear that most kids label the dangerous place as the hospital or a feeling related to their illness and treatment.  The way in which they describe the “place of danger” can be heartbreaking but important for them to share.  One child once said, “It’s all of it,” as he gestured at everything around him in the hospital.  The Godly Play storyteller then asks, “I wonder how you get through it?”  The answers are rich, powerful, and often full of hope despite their fear and pain.  It’s very important for the Pediatric Chaplain to create a safe space for a child to share from their heart, and we are blessed to hear children express heavy statements that they had not otherwise allowed themselves to articulate.

I wonder what your “place of danger is,” and I wonder how you get through it?  What, or who, helps you?  We know that stay-at-home orders can help protect the community and keep us healthy enough to continue serving in our roles at TCH, but those same orders can keep us from the activities and people who help us through our “place of danger.”  Right now, it seems that everywhere we turn there is sadness, worry, and fear right now.  It seems that coping with the darkness is more and more difficult as our activities, places of worship, and inability to be surrounded by friends and family.  But, regardless of what comes our way, we can get through the “place of danger,” no matter how hard it appears to be.

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 is rising all over the country, including in the Greater Houston area and at Texas Children’s. We may be in the “place of danger” right now, just as so many of the kids for whom we care are.  Like our brave patients, however, we will get through it.  We will find healthy and helpful ways to cope.  We can enjoy a dog walk, a good book, or a family Zoom call.  We will support each other with humor, permission to vent or cry, and simply sitting with each other in silence.  We will rely on our faiths and the coping skills we have built over our years of caring for sick and dying children.  We will find a way though the “place of danger.”

July 1, 2020

As we head into the holiday weekend, it is very important we understand that COVID-19 is not on holiday. That means our traditional July 4th plans must look a bit different this weekend, but they can still be just as enjoyable.

For your safety and that of everyone around you, use this three-day weekend as an opportunity to explore new traditions and activities – ones that will help ensure we’re here to enjoy gatherings in years to come.

With a quick Google search, we found lots of great ideas for spending the holiday safely at home. Here are our top 5:

1. Celebrate virtually. Houston’s Shell Freedom Over Texas celebration will be virtual this year, featuring fireworks and musical acts, like the Houston Symphony and country singer Pat Green. Tune in on July 4 at 7 p.m. on ABC13.com. And while there’s nothing quite like getting an up-close look at the Statue of Liberty, an interactive virtual tour by the National Park Service offers panoramic views of the statue’s exterior and interior. In additional, lots of national museums are offering history-packed videos and virtual tours online.

2. Hamilton anyone? A live recording of Hamilton, the acclaimed Broadway musical from the writer and its star Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the director Thomas Kail, arrives on Disney Plus on Friday. Take the fun up a notch by watching outdoors on the patio.

3. Get physical. Get your blood pumping with an early morning workout, alone, with your spouse or the whole family. Or enjoy an evening bicycle parade with a small group of friends – don’t forget to decorate your bike! Want to keep the fun outdoors? Stock up on lawn games like oversized checkers, tic-tac-toe, Connect 4 and cornhole. Stand-by favorites like sidewalk chalk and bubbles can also be a hit!

4. Bring the fun inside. No backyard? No problem. Bring the camp out indoors – pitch a tent and find a recipe for s’mores you can make in the oven. Or clear the furniture, and set up a picnic right in the family room – picnic basket, checkered linens and all! Spend the day making festive crafts, playing games and enjoying movies or karaoke.

5. Revitalize. While we often think of holidays as a time for celebration, they also can serve as a moment of relaxation. Take advantage of the long weekend by doing something that centers or refreshes you. Read a book, take a walk, attend a virtual church service, phone a friend or family member you’ve lost touch with, or just allow yourself to be still for a bit. Still have energy to burn? Consider tackling a cluttered room or closet, and enjoy the reward of your newly reorganized space.

These ideas are the tip of the iceberg. So explore online, get creative and most importantly stay safe.

June 30, 2020

As Texas Children’s begins accepting adult patients, Chief Nursing Officer Mary Jo Andre shares what this new opportunity means for nursing and how our nurses can do their part to help curb the spread of COVID-1. Read more

June 29, 2020

For many patients and their families, coping with a new illness can be challenging, and often times, can produce anxiety and fear. Since 1997 the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, has helped numerous patients cope with their illness through various art opportunities.

“Access to the arts is essential to our every day well-being, especially in the most challenging of times,” said Carol Herron, coordinator for the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program. “It gives our patients affected by cancer and blood disorders the opportunity for self-expression, empowerment and healing through the arts.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the program’s community Art Partners frequently visited the Cancer and Hematology Clinic to engage patients and their siblings in fun and educational arts activities. Since the art partners are unable to come into the clinic due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program launched a creative and interactive way to virtually connect with patients and their families.

Creativity Connected is a weekly interactive virtual arts newsletter that the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine program rolled out in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newsletter goes out weekly to a database of more than 1,300 Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers’ patients and their siblings.

The publication provides a collection of enjoyable arts activities for children including video clips on how to build a spaghetti hedgehog or how to make musical instruments using common household materials. Creativity Connected also features a selection of artwork from Making A Mark®, an exhibition of art and creative writing from children touched by cancer and blood disorders at our Cancer and Hematology Centers.

One of the long-time Art Partners that is part of the Periwinkle Arts in Medicine Program is Purple Songs Can Fly, which has provided hundreds of patients and siblings a musical outlet to share their incredible stories and songs of hope which are produced in an in-house studio at Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

Below is a note from a child who wrote a song virtually with Purple Songs Can Fly founder and executive director Anita Kruse, and then had that song shared in the Creativity Connected newsletter.

“I feel happy to make songs with Anita. She is so kind. My sister and I enjoy making and singing songs. I like the way she plays the piano. When I grow up I would love to play piano like her.”

In addition to Purple Songs Can Fly, several other Art Partners that have contributed to bringing art therapy to our cancer and hematology patients include Writers in The Schools, Houston Center for Photography, Young Audiences of Houston, the Houston Symphony, The Woodlands Children’s Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and DaCamera.

Texas Children’s partners with The Periwinkle Foundation, an organization that develops and provides programs that positively change the lives of children, young adults and families who are challenged by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and are cared for at Texas Children’s Hospital.