HELPING CHILDREN COPE WITH SERIOUS ILLNESS
Sesame Workshop in partnership with The Center for Advanced Illness Coordinated Care (CAICC), a nonprofit, healthcare research and public policy organization affiliated with Dartmouth Medical School and supported by the Charitable Leadership Foundation, unveiled a new bilingual outreach project entitled, Here for You: Helping Children Cope with Serious Illness. The Here for You materials consist of an original Sesame Street DVD along with tips to help facilitate conversations between children and parents, caregivers, or health professionals to encourage children to express their feelings and concerns about their illness. This resource was created with the support of Paul Newman, Target Foundation and CAICC as well as content guided by a team of expert advisors, cancer survivors and parents from around the nation.
The Here for You: Helping Children Cope with Serious Illness DVD follows Sesame Street’s Elmo as he visits his cousin Chester, who’s receiving treatment for a serious illness at the hospital. Elmo, with the support of medical practitioners, and children, helps Chester understand and express his feelings of fear, anger, and guilt. The Here for You tips reinforce the messages in the DVD and are tools to assist seriously ill children understand that their feelings are okay to express and are often shared by other children who are in a similar circumstance. The DVD and tips will be made available courtesy of CAICC, which will nationally distribute 5,000 copies to the nation’s 250 children’s hospitals, pediatric medical organizations, and children’s palliative care programs. In addition, all materials will be available for free at www.sesameworkshop.org/hereforyou beginning this summer.
“For any child who has been diagnosed with a deadly disease comes unimaginable fear and uncertainty,” said Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio). “Helping a sick child learn to express their emotions and fears is critically important for both the child and their family to begin to cope with their illness. This is a wonderful program, and I congratulate Sesame Street for bringing some clarity and peace of mind to children during a decidedly difficult time in their young lives.”
“Together, Sesame Workshop and CAICC developed engaging content that addresses the complicated subject of young children facing a serious illness the way that Sesame Street does best: with compassion and honesty. We are always representing a child’s point of view and how adults can support children during these stressful times,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Vice President for Outreach and Educational Practices at Sesame Workshop. “We are known for consistently breaking new ground with award-winning Sesame Street projects that approach tough subjects such as coping with stress, loss of a loved one and military deployment, Here for You is no exception.”
“It is an honor to work with the talented individuals at Sesame Workshop in order to bring practical guidance to children and their families coping with serious illness” said Dan Tobin, M.D., CEO, The Center for Advaned Illness Coordinate Care. “The Here for You DVD will help children and their loved ones express their feelings and improve the quality of life for the entire family in a way that only Sesame Street could have done. We are excited to carry on this work by having pediatric practitioners in children’s hospitals use this DVD as a conversation starter for children and to contribute in some small but significant and measurable manner, to helping children cope with serious illness.”
Inspired by a donation from Jane Henson, the wife of the legendary creator of the Muppets, and the Here For You DVD, CAICC, is launching the Helping Children Cope With Serious Illness Fund (HCCwSIF). The HCCwSIF will be donating funds to participating children’s hospitals in order to support full time pediatric behavioral health specialists who will provide additional ongoing, outpatient, health counseling for children and families facing serious illnesses. Over the next year, the HCCwSIF will donate funds to Albany Medical Center, Dartmouth and Boston children’s hospitals that are in need of a full time nurse or social worker. The additional health care staff will provide ongoing hospital based, community focused, and health counseling for children and families facing serious illness. The Helping Children with Serious Illness Fund will work closely with hospital personnel to continue creating and implementing a plan for adding full time practitioners to for up to six additional children’s hospitals.
“Children are our future. Every time a child is seriously ill the whole community suffers. This remarkable partnership between Sesame Workshop and the Center for Advanced Illness Coordinated Care will help family and caregivers to communicate with children, allowing them to understand and cope with their illness. That process is the first step toward healing–both the kids and the communities,” said James J. Barba, President and Chief Executive Officer of Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y., where the Children’s Hospital at Albany Med is situated.
