蜜桃影视

Over a few nights in 2019, a radical change took place at New York鈥檚 renowned Mount Sinai Kravis Children鈥檚 Hospital. As is the case with most overnight sensations, the transformation had been years in the making.

Here鈥檚 what happened. While the hospital鈥檚 tiny patients slept, a purposeful crew came through with colorful decals, posters, elevator wraps and other materials, transforming the center into a lively, energized space where simple, evidence-based messages offer tips, guidance and support at every touchpoint a family might encounter as they navigate the space. Though the materials for this environmental transformation are eye-catching, their purpose is far from ornamental: They are a dynamic representation of Mount Sinai鈥檚 profound commitment to transforming the delivery of pediatric health care itself.

Though the science couldn鈥檛 be clearer regarding the difference positive parenting makes for a child鈥檚 health and cognitive, social-emotional well-being, pediatricians often have little formal training in child development. An informal survey of graduating pediatric residents reported that most didn鈥檛 feel prepared to advise parents on how to foster this healthy development.

鈥淧ediatricians are often asked behavioral questions,鈥� says Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, a global authority on early childhood and author of the pioneering book 鈥溾�� 鈥淏ut because they have very little training in child behavior, they may end up giving advice based on what their own parents did 鈥� or just not giving it at all.鈥�

鈥淭here was an urgent need for them to understand how the child鈥檚 mind develops, so in 2012, the Mind in the Making team began collaborating with the (MSPC) to develop a curriculum that would start at the beginning 鈥� by training pediatric residents in the science of children鈥檚 brain development as well as how to deliver and model this information.鈥�

The resulting curriculum, Keystones of Development, is a free, online program funded by the Bezos Family Foundation that provides residents with evidence-based research on how parenting behaviors influence a child鈥檚 cognitive and social-emotional development, and shows how pediatricians can weave information promoting these positive behaviors into routine well-child visits.

From the start, the Parenting Center鈥檚 aim with the Keystones of Development curriculum has been to transform the culture of pediatric practice. It鈥檚 hard to argue with the program鈥檚 success: From an initial pilot with eight pediatric residencies in 2018, the curriculum has flourished to the degree that it is now used by 82 percent of pediatric residency training programs and 18 percent of family medical residency training programs in the U.S.

Top staff at the MSPC wanted to expand the curriculum鈥檚 reach even further. What if a pediatric practice could be set up so that every one of its interactions with a caregiver fosters those parent-child bonds and helps parents realize the difference they make in their child鈥檚 development? What if every moment the parent is in the clinic or hospital is rich with messages that provide them with the tools and confidence to be great parents?

The idea of turning everyday moments into brain-building opportunities is at the core of Vroom, a program of the Bezos Family Foundation that puts early brain science to work through tips that help parents boost their child鈥檚 learning when they spend time together.

To adapt and expand these tips for a health care setting, an interdisciplinary working group was formed to design a to create Vroom messages for strategic placement throughout the hospital, easily visible to caregivers and staff. The working group included Dr. Blair Hammond and Dr. Aliza Pressman, MSPC鈥檚 co-founding directors; Dr. Carrie Quinn, executive director; Mariel Benjamin, director of programs and a licensed clinical social worker, all from Mount Sinai Parenting Center. In addition, the working group included Jackie Bezos, co-founder of the Bezos Family Foundation, Megan Wyatt, the foundation鈥檚 managing director of early learning, Ellen Galinsky, and a team from Johannes Leonardo, a leading creative agency based in New York City. Key stakeholders and staff, including physicians, vetted and helped create hundreds of messages unique to six of the Center鈥檚 units 鈥� the prenatal clinic, labor and delivery, the postpartum unit, the neonatal intensive care unit, the general pediatric practice and the pediatric emergency department.

鈥淭he transformation at Mount Sinai showed that small moments add up to a big impact. It helped health care professionals and staff to be better brain builders and we hope it will inspire other health care professionals, too,鈥� said Wyatt.

These vibrant messages did, indeed, transform the hospital鈥檚 physical environment. A far more powerful aspect of the pilot project, however, has been a comprehensive training program designed to reach any staff member who might interact with parents, caregivers and children in any of the six hospital units. The center created a video introducing the basic science of early childhood development, then trained 1,123 hospital staff members in a one-hour, in-person lab to apply these key concepts. A month after the training, staff received reinforcing modules and monthly newsletters to maintain the momentum.

鈥淭he training has been the most exciting part of the project to me,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淭he interprofessional groups 鈥� nurses, security, business administrators, lactation consultants, housekeeping, physicians and more 鈥� all receiving the same training is something that occurs so rarely. And the recognition in a non-hierarchical way of the role we all play in a family鈥檚 experience was just amazing. The content we delivered is so positive that at the end of the training session, people were always smiling and saying how great it was.鈥�

鈥淚n the training, we talked about how we see our roles in helping parents fall in love with their children,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淗ow can we have parents recognize the amazing impact they have on their child? How can we in the health care industry discuss, model, praise and invite positive caregiver-child interactions in our everyday health care moments?鈥�

In determining placement of the Vroom health care messages and where families were most likely to encounter staff, the planning team walked through parents鈥� process from their very first interaction to the moment they received their discharge information and beyond. (As an expression of its teamwork with new parents, the Center offers for parents and caregivers 鈥� brief videos on babies鈥� development from zero to 5 years with practical, actionable advice on babies鈥� behavior, parenting questions, tips and resources, and essential information on babies鈥� growth and development.)

Transformation in the Day-to-Day

The result of the environmental transformation is an immersive experience that leaves no stone unturned in making sure the brain-building messages reach the families and then reach them again.

Hammond says she鈥檚 one of the lucky ones at Mount Sinai who gets to experience the transformation as a clinician 鈥� seeing the sign in the postpartum unit that says, 鈥淧arents are born here,鈥� or in the staff offices that says, 鈥淧arents matter here.鈥� She says she鈥檚 had families in her office take pictures of messages to share with grandparents, had children ask about the pictures and what people are doing (playing peekaboo or Simon says), and see families in the elevator read the signage that says, 鈥淥ver a million neural connections are made every second in the brain in the first few years of life,鈥� then download the Vroom app.

Designed to Be Copied

The intention of the pilot project was that it be scalable, adaptable and free to pediatric educators and practices everywhere, with training modules and materials designed to be practical and easily replicated. To that end, Dan Torres, Vroom鈥檚 senior program manager, is creating a digital starter kit and accompanying training resources that will be available by the end of the summer for interested organizations.

鈥淢ount Sinai did a wonderful job of making the training really accessible in how it can be offered,鈥� Torres says. 鈥淚t can be in person; it can be virtual. They are experts in the space, and they鈥檝e set it up so that it makes implementation a much easier lift for organizations.鈥�

鈥淰room has always been a good, easy fit for home-visiting programs, libraries, child care, Head Start, those kinds of areas,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot all children have access to all those things though. If we want to reach as many children as possible, health care settings are where, ideally, children are going to go for well-child visits. This program will be an extra layer that will add a lot of value there.鈥�

For Dr. Sarah Milburn, medical director of the Newborn Nursery at Mount Sinai Kravis Children鈥檚 Hospital, one of the program鈥檚 greatest accomplishments is the way that it levels the playing field for parents who might never have had any information about childrearing and positive parenting.

鈥淪ome families had parents who talked to them, read to them, pointed out things and engaged them in conversation,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut other parents maybe never have had that demonstrated. Maybe their parents didn鈥檛 talk to them, maybe they didn鈥檛 grow up around younger children and never saw their parents interacting with a child. Regardless of what was demonstrated for them, we鈥檙e demonstrating it now. We鈥檙e demonstrating it in what鈥檚 on the walls, we鈥檙e demonstrating it with how the different staff members interact.

鈥淲e may just be in there for a moment, bringing them an ice pack, but we can say, 鈥極h my goodness, the baby has their eyes open. They鈥檙e really taking it all in.鈥� You walk out the door after you鈥檝e handled whatever they needed, but in that split second interaction, you鈥檝e made a difference. And it鈥檚 cumulative 鈥� all the little conversations they have, all the tips they see everywhere 鈥� it all adds up for the family to see how many opportunities they have to interact. They may just be here a few short days, but they鈥檒l take that home with them.鈥�

Milburn says she鈥檚 seen the difference in staff as well, in the way they view themselves and how they appreciate their own worth.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so uplifting,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hose first few days after you鈥檝e had a baby are so overwhelming and stressful, and having everyone here as part of your team makes such a difference. We always have been part of their team, but I think those interactions when we say, 鈥楲ook what your baby is noticing,鈥� touch them in a very different way.

鈥淕iven what we鈥檝e been dealing with through COVID and everything, it would be easy to feel so worn down from what everyone went through,鈥� Milburn adds. 鈥淏ut spirits are high here and people really appreciate each other.

鈥淭his is a really beautiful place to work.鈥�

The Bezos Family Foundation provides financial support to Early Learning Nation.