Starlight Foundation provides Grant & Wii Fun Center
By Mel Fabrikant Tuesday, July 08, 2008, 06:04 PM EDT
Grant & Wii Fun Center
Ill children at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center will benefit from support recently granted by the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation NY*NJ*CT and its Pediatric Hospital Support Program. The organization provided the Medical Center with funding for $30,000 to benefit child life programs and a brand new Nintendo Wii Fun Center.
“We are so grateful to the Starlight Foundation for their ongoing support for our children’s services and programs,” said Michelle Brauntuch, M.S., CCLS, Child Life Specialist at Englewood Hospital. “The grant will be used to increase child life services and help children and families in the Pediatric Unit, the Same-Day Surgery Center, the NICU or the emergency department cope better with their medical experience. The Fun Center goes a long way in distracting and helping children deal with their feelings of fear, pain and anxiety, whether nervously awaiting surgery, feeling alone in their hospital room or visiting a sibling.”
Nintendo Wii Fun Centers are interactive entertainment units that include a Sharp Aquos flat-panel screen, a DVD player and the newly anticipated Nintendo Wii System. The portable units can roll anywhere in the hospital, including right up to a child’s bedside so children who need to stay in bed can still play. New studies have shown that the entertainment system requires movement similar to traditional therapy exercises and, at the same time, is mentally stimulating to patients.
“Starlight’s mission is to help seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education, and family activities,” stated Elaine Siver, Executive Director of Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of NY*NJ*CT. “This program is designed to aid children services in hospitals such as Englewood Hospital. We are confident it will help restore some of the happiness that a serious illness takes away and make a child’s hospital experience more pleasant, and when possible, more fun.”
This year the Starlight Pediatric Hospital Support Program has supported 61 tri-state area hospitals with an estimated value of programs totaling more than $1.7 million. Over the past 12 years, Starlight’s pediatric hospital support program has supported 84 hospitals in the tri-state area with an estimated project value of more than $7.6 million. The programs supported by Starlight have brightened the lives of more than one million hospitalized children. In general, the program supports projects that will continue to have an impact on children beyond the initial year of implementation and strives to make a child’s hospital experience more pleasant.
About Englewood Hospital’s Child Life Program
Englewood Hospital’s Certified Child Life Specialist Michelle Brauntuch has a Masters in Child Development and is specially trained to help children and their families maintain normal living patterns during hospitalization. Areas of expertise include child growth and development, family dynamics, developmental observation and assessment, learning processes, behavior management, interpersonal communications, interventional skills to prevent emotional trauma, and knowledge of how children perceive hospitalization and illness so that their fears and anxieties can be dispelled.
The Medical Center offers families a comprehensive network of board-certified and board-eligible pediatricians and pediatric sub-specialists. In addition, the nursing staff is specially trained to deliver family-centered care and to be sensitive to the varying developmental needs of pediatric patients.
For more information about the Medical Center’s Child Life Program or to schedule a Pre-Operative Tour, call the Child Life Specialist at 201-894-3635. For a listing of Englewood Hospital’s pediatricians, call 201-894-3456, or visit www.englewoodhospital.com.
About the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation
The Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation makes a world of difference for seriously ill children and their families. Since 1985, the NY*NJ*CT chapter has been offering hope and a brighter future for seriously ill children. The goal of the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation is to help these children experience the simple joys of being a child. Each year, Starlight serves over 275,000 critically, chronically, and terminally ill children throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some of Starlight’s most unique programs include Great Escapes, special outings for children and their families, STARBRIGHT World, a private online community for teens who are living with chronic diseases to connect, Hospital Happenings, including themed parties, toys, and visits from entertainers. For more information on the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of NY*NJ*CT, please log on to www.starlight-newyork.org.
