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Activity Therapist Jerry Reed is one of the dedicated child life professionals who helps make hospitalization more fun. |
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Hope beads allow patients to honor and document the steps of treatment during their illnesses and hospitalizations. Because Bobby Moody has experienced numerous surgeries and hospitalizations, his necklace has almost every bead, including several he added to recognize the special people he’s met at Mott. Here he works on his necklace with art therapist Kathy Richards-Peal. |
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Bringing some of the joys of childhood to patients at Mott
Child and family life activity centers are known by many names—playrooms, activity centers, ouch-free zones, and for the patients at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, they are the place to go to have fun. Fourteen-year-old Bobby Moody, who has undergone numerous surgeries and hospitalizations at Mott Children’s Hospital, knows the activity centers well.
Bobby’s favorite place is the 6th floor Child Life activity center where he enjoys crafts, video games, pool and spending time with the talented and caring Child Life staff, which includes activity therapists, art therapists, child life specialists and a music therapist.
Bobby has a disease called neurofibromatosis in which tumors grow on the nerve endings. One of the effects is scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. Bobby has had more than 12 surgeries in the last 12 years. After surgery, the first place he wants to go is the Child and Family Life activity center. His mom, Jessica Ziegler, says she thinks the activity center helps him recover faster.
“And if I can’t go there, they come visit me,” says Bobby, recalling one of the times the music therapist, Bob Huffman, visited him in the surgical recovery room. Bobby remembers Huffman’s guitar music relaxing him and putting him to sleep. Bobby also enjoys the activities Huffman organizes for patients that give them a chance to play instruments.
Another one of Bobby’s favorite people is art therapist Kathy Richards-Peal. It is clear from hearing him describe Richards-Peal that she is a special person. He says she is fun and very thoughtful and he enjoys the art projects she plans.
Bobby’s mom is grateful for the support Child and Family Life provides for parents. “They do so much for parents, too,” says Ziegler, listing off the ways they help parents relax like the coffee cart, the opportunities in the family resource center and even free massages from massage therapists. It also helps his mom feel better to know that when Bobby is in the activity center, he is happy and having fun with the Child Life staff. She says that the activity center is “a great place. Kids forget about why they’re in the hospital. They’re very special people.”
See how the Child and Family Life department helps make the hospital a fun place to be. Mott’s Community Relations staff work closely with Child and Family Life to create a wish list of items most needed for patients and their families. View the list here. |
