June 11, 2020
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children offers a medical daycare program that provides therapeutic and rehabilitative services to children and young adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. It also gives our children and young adults the social opportunity to make friends.
The program is open to children age six to 18 years of age and adults up to the age of 30. There are a series of supervised activities that are designed to promote skills, confidence, and independence in an environment that is nurturing and fun. Family members are welcome. St. Mary’s provides round-trip transportation to all of our participants.
How do you navigate such an important program during the time of COVID-19? While we can’t be together with your child, our patients, we are continuing our programs by use of telemedicine.
We have had about 95 children and young adults participating in these virtual sessions where the dedicated staff of St. Mary’s Medical Day Healthcare Program conducts weekly assessments to confirm that each child and their family are well and not in need of assistance with food, medications, activities, or medical supplies. If they do have a need, our team will provide the family with resources as well as contact doctors and pharmacies to assist in getting the supplies that they need. Most of our children and young adults enrolled in our Medical day Healthcare Program are currently receiving occupational, speech, and physical therapy via telehealth services.
Our sessions are usually 30 minutes for each session and are conducted either using ZOOM or Facetime. While it is not the same as seeing each other in person, bringing their therapists and counselors to them by way of a video chat brings some normalcy into their lives. It also provides them with the incentive to achieve their rehabilitation goals. While the children are enjoying the sessions and seeing the staff, which were part of their daily routine, they have all expressed a desire to return to St. Mary’s as soon as possible.
While telehealth was not something our MDHC staff and families had experienced before COVID-19, they have been able to work together to achieve their goals by making it as fun and interactive as it had been prior to quarantine. Everyone at St. Mary’s miss seeing and interacting with our patients and being able to connect with telemedicine allows us to connect with the families more than we ever had in the past. The parents are involved with the sessions and are able to ask for assistance and guidance where needed.
Our team is providing therapy and care packages to the families. This includes art supplies, worksheets, recipes, exercises, guided meditation, and board games. Our goal is to keep the families busy in the home and accommodating their needs as best we can. While we are separated and maintaining our social distance, we are not far from each other.
