Help kids with burn injuries heal faster

Dear Donor,

This spring we have had many joyful events and interactions with our patients. From group activities to individual sessions, our kids are blossoming through therapeutic art activities just as spring is sweeping through the Galveston area. One major event that our kids loved was the Mardi Gras Parade. For this event, they made their own masks of foam, glitter and faux-jeweled objects. The masks turned out amazing and both kids and their families had a great time at the parade.

Since our last report, over 12 different therapeutic art activities have been conducted with more than 60 children. These activities allow patients to receive developmental stimulation and participate in normalizing play while helping clinical staff assess their social emotional, developmental, psychological and physical needs to customize activities to meet a therapeutic goal. Every therapeutic art activity allows the patient to exercise choice and autonomy, improve relationship skills, gain mastery over a specific skill or craft, engage in therapeutic dialogue and express themselves through play. Group activities allow us to help connect families from different backgrounds, bring an aspect of fun and socialization to hospital life and provide a supportive and creative setting in which to explore the issues of hospitalization.

Recently, we had a five year old living in isolation due to infection. His isolation was necessary, but frustrating; so frustrating that he began to impede his own recovery. Through individual therapeutic art activities, our isolated patient was able to create wooden objects, such as a car, fire truck or plane, which he glued together and painted. Not only was he having fun engaging in play, but the activities helped normalize his experience and allowed him to exercise creativity, choice and autonomy while engaging in therapeutic dialogue about his experiences and feelings. He also used his fingers and hands to execute fine motor skills which increased his confidence in his ability to return to the same activities he engaged in prior to hospital admission.

Your donation has helped children with burn injuries participate in therapeutic art activities that are essential to their development while visiting the Galveston hospital. Feelings of creativity, choice and autonomy are pivotal to their recovery. Thank you for helping them laugh and smile and gain a sense of normalcy until they return to health and home.