Our Goal
“I’m not a therapist. Play isn’t just for the diagnosis or therapy. It’s these children’s right and their need.”
For our 2023 campaign, Preemie to Pre-Med is focused on implementing initiatives that prioritize continuity of care in pediatric child life and wellness programs. Termed “Project CAPE (Complex Admission Play Encouragement)”, our newest program seeks to strengthen the impact of child life services from a patient’s initial triage through discharge and any subsequent readmissions at every level of care. With a greater focus on meeting the needs of increasingly complex pediatric illnesses of today’s day and age, Project CAPE will support integrated child life programs designed to follow the complex and nonlinear paths of pediatric chronic and acute illness.
These initiatives will include improvements in virtual connection, improving access to limited mobility and critical care play services, increasing mental health support and access to risk-appropriate play areas/tools, increasing access to child life in emergency room settings, implementing needs-based family financial support services, and fortifying current inpatient and outpatient child life services. In doing so, we hope to empower pediatric patients and their families to live their lives beyond a diagnosis and curb feelings of fear and isolation in hospital environments. We believe that every child and family can and should benefit from improved access to a continuous model of child life services regardless of care acuity, movement between levels of care, and location of treatment.
Raise.
With our 125k goal, Project CAPE seeks to fund child life initiatives at every level of care. From initial triage in pediatric ERs, to establishing readiness for discharge and creating a cohesive follow-up plan, Project CAPE meets patients wherever they are in their medical journey to help empower exploration, growth, and cultivating a life beyond a diagnosis. We’re creating futures that extend beyond the hospital.
Donate.
Taking a quarterly approach to distribution of funds, PTP plans to implement Project CAPE initiatives on the basis of volume of patients treated and demand for child life services. We will begin with implementing new child life initiatives in the Emergency Room, followed by inpatient units, pediatric intensive care units, and lastly outpatient specialty clinics. Family support program funding will be distributed in an ongoing nature over the course of the year.
Play.
Through targeted investments in local pediatric child life programs, PTP strives to forms partnerships with Boston based children’s hospitals to inspire chronically and acutely ill children to pursue their dreams, regardless of a diagnosis. In doing so, we hope to facilitate a comforting and nurturing environment in which children can heal regardless of care acuity, family circumstances, or lack of pediatric support program funding. Put simply, we believe in the power of play and we hope you do, too.
Donate Now
And help us reach our goal, one smile at a time!