Patient-Centered Care Month

Patient-Centered Care Month

Shoal Habib said, “Hospitals are unlike other places in that people who are in them don’t want to be.” Consider the children with acute and chronic illness who are in hospitals frequently. They become experts on the unwelcome, unwanted hospital experience. These...
Making Hospital Stays Easier on Infants & Toddlers

Making Hospital Stays Easier on Infants & Toddlers

Understanding what little ones need is always a challenge—are they hungry, tired, afraid? When they’re in the hospital, that challenge is compounded. Their little minds are inundated with new information, sights, sounds and sensations and then, something unfamiliar...
Helping Hospitalized Adolescents Cope

Helping Hospitalized Adolescents Cope

Making the hospital a happier place for children of all ages is a rewarding, but of course challenging task—and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Tactics and techniques differ for different genders, cultures and age groups. What’s employed for school-age...
Q&A with Brenda Sturgeleski

Q&A with Brenda Sturgeleski

We never get tired of hearing about how Child Life Specialists arrived in their professions. Brenda Sturgeleski, BA, Ed, LES, CCLS, CTRS, shares how she turned a fine arts degree and passion for serving children into a Child Life career. How did you get involved in...
Q&A with Gabe’s Chemo Duck Founder, Lu Sipos

Q&A with Gabe’s Chemo Duck Founder, Lu Sipos

Learning your child has cancer or another serious illness that is or could be life-threatening has the power to make you feel very alone, but it also introduces you to a network of people who understand what you’re going through and understand the power of hope and...
Q&A with Child Life Specialist, Lois Wolgemuth

Q&A with Child Life Specialist, Lois Wolgemuth

Lois Wolgemuth has worked as a Child Life Specialist at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, for 31 years, but discovered her passion for helping hospitalized children at age 12. She’s truly devoted her life to the Child Life profession and shares...
Jobs & Gifts

Jobs & Gifts

“Our JOB is to provide healthcare. The way we do it is our GIFT to patients and families.” –Andrea Standish Recently, I met with a dynamic woman named Kelli Kelley who is the Founder and Executive Director of Hand to Hold. After navigating a path without much support...
Augusta Victoria Update + Our 5th Birthday

Augusta Victoria Update + Our 5th Birthday

Hello from Jerusalem! While we are here working with Augusta Victoria Hospital, we are also celebrating our 5th birthday. We’re grateful to those who have supported us, donated, mentored, prayed, laughed, helped and advised us. We’ve gotten social with each other;...
Needles Are Scary

Needles Are Scary

August is national immunization awareness month. Of course, it’s also back-to-school season, so there’s a good chance shots and physicals are on your mind right now, especially if you’re a healthcare provider, or a parent. If you’re the latter, you may be dreading...
Stories from Our Colleagues: Caroline Armington

Stories from Our Colleagues: Caroline Armington

Summer 2015 marks the five year anniversary of the founding of the Standish Foundation for Child and Family Centered Healthcare. We’re celebrating by sharing the stories of some of the people that have worked alongside us. From Advisory Council Member Caroline...
Wrapping up at Augusta Victoria Hospital

Wrapping up at Augusta Victoria Hospital

Our team has spent the last 10 days at Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem. We are on our way home, but wanted to send out a brief wrap-up about what’s been accomplished on this Support & Education Trip. Staff members in the pediatric hematology/oncology clinic...
Support Trip to Augusta Victoria Hospital

Support Trip to Augusta Victoria Hospital

Our team has travelled to Jerusalem to provide training and support to the amazing staff at Augusta Victoria Hospital. We have had a very full few days in the pediatric blood and cancer unit of in Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH). (AVH) is housed in a beautiful...