Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 November 2000 — Page 36

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24,2000 ■ PAGE D8

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Indiana Health Watch

Special to The Recorder If you or a loved one are recovering from an illness or injury, require special attention due to a chronic illness or physical impairment, or need some additional peace of mind because you live alone, St. Vincent Senior Partner Program offers a program to help ease those concerns. Health Watch, a personal response system, is the most sophisticated, advanced technological device in the marketplace today, yet completely user-friendly. Health Watch provides 24-hour, 365-day monitoring service. The Health Watch Response Center operators are trained to respond to any emergency, to offer reassurance and to dispatch help immediately if warranted! For safety’s sake, all of the Response Center’s telephone and power sources have triple backup. Getting help is as easy as A-B-C in an emergency: Natural family planning? Natural family planning couples use natural family planning (NFP) to help them determine the woman’s peak times of fertility and use those times to bring about — or avoid — pregnancy. NFP is a program that teaches an effective, scientifically-based method of family planning. “NFP treats fertility as a normal, healthy process,” said St. Vincent NFP instructor Angie Reagin, RN. “The woman’s fertility or infertility is charted based on her daily temperature, cervical changes, and the presence and appearance of cervical mucus.” Provided the couple follows the charting process and pays attention to the woman’s signs, NFP has proven to be 99.5 percent effective. NFP is in harmony with teachings of all religious faiths. There is no need to have a regular cycle to use NFP, and it is not the “rhythm” method. Call 338-CARE (2273) for more information about scheduled classes.

(A) Press the personal transmitter (which may be worn as a necklace or bracelet) or the red button on the Help Console. (B) The Help Console signals the Health Watch Response Center. (C) A trained operator will talk to you through the Help Console. Even if you are unable to speak, someone will come to your aid. Independence means being comfortable in your own home, and being able to stay in your own home, knowing that when you need help someone is always there 24 hours a day. The operators at the Response System know the subscriber’s vital statistics and will call your family, neighbors, doctor or emergency services if you are in trouble. Indiana Health Watch may be obtained through the St. Vincent Senior Partner Program for a $50 installation fee and $40 per month. For more information about Indiana Health Watch, call the St. Vincent CARE Line at 338-CARE or (888) 338-CARE. ’• \

Two agencies provide free cancer support group Partners in Wellness, a collaboration between Little Red Door Cancer Agency, the Wellness Community of Central Indiana and Wishard Health Services, will offer a free cancer support group on Wednesday, Nov. 29 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Wishard Hospital, 1001 W. 10th St. The group will meet in the multi-purpose room on the 1 st floor of the Myers Building. Cancer patients, caregivers, friends and family members are invited to attend this free meeting that is facilitated by a licensed psychotherapist. Free transportation is available and may be arranged by calling Little Red Door Cancer Agency at 925-5595. Partners in Wellness hopes to bring vital psychosocial support to the medically underserved of Indianapolis. The collaborative effort is made possible through the generous support of the Hoover Family Foundation. For more information, call Little Red Door Cancer Agency at 925-5595 or the Wellness Community of Central Indiana at 257-1505. SL Francis Hospital to host Jump the Gun race/walk event on Jan. 5 St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers will host the 14th annual Jump the Gun run/walk event on Friday, Jan. 5,2001, at the St. Francis Hospital - Indianapolis campus. A health fair and screenings — open to the community — will begin at 9:30 p.m. and continue to midnight. The run/walk starts at 11 p.m. Application forms for the 2001 Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Mini-Marathon will be available after the run/walk. Although applications are available online at www.500festival.com and at other designated locations, race participants can only gain special seeding by registering and making payment for the MiniMarathon at the Jump the Gun event. Athletes who submit their completed Mini-Marathon applications that evening will automatically receive a lower race number (closer to the starting line) at the Mini-Marathon. Call (317) 782-7997 or visit www.stfrancishospitals.org for more information. St. Francis Hospital - Indianapolis, 8111 S. Emerson Ave.

St. Vincent Children’s Hospital rebuilds lives with hope and love

“It’s all about the children,” explains Jamie Mitchell, a staff member at St. Vincent Children’s Specialty Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital for children horn birth to 21 years of age. That sentiment is clearly expressed on the hospital’s “philosophy board,” where pictures of children adorn the wall as you enter the

hospital.

Giving hope to children is what happens here. The

Children’s Specialty Hospital provides rehabilitative therapy and services to children suffering from head injuries, spinal cord injuries or respiratory problems, among other illnesses, accidents

or trauma experiences.

Before children and their families even walk inside the hospital, they experience hope. It’s in the foim of familiarity and hominess. The building itself resembles more of a home than a hospital. To make newly admitted patients

feel like they are walking into a place of Hospital

acceptance and love, a staff member—

anyone from the executive director to a medical records cleric — meets every patient and family member at the

doors, greeting and welcoming them.

The hominess of the hospital only intensifies as

kids be kids. By this, they want the children’s therapy to be integrated into their lives — not the life being fitted in around the therapy. One of the ways they do this is by using age-appropriate games during the physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions. In addition, school remains a part of the school-age children ’ s lives. Forode hour a day, each child spends time with a teacher,

keeping up on schoolwork and learning.

St. Vincent Children’s Specialty Hospital employs

child life specialists who promote (Kfrmal growth and development through play and typical childhood experiences. The child life specialist uses these activities to allow children to exercise their social skills and to provide a break from the hard work of therapy «fid recovery. A variety of medically appropriate games and activities are planned — including helping them

... understand medical procedures; n)idtChllarens Specialty ing holiday crafts, cooking and outings

“Our staff cares so deeply about these children that you can’t help but bond with one another. ” Jamie Mitchell, St. Vincent

to the mall or museum. “Part of their being here is to help die children rt«j-

tegrate back into the community,” Mitchell said. ' • What probably makes St Vincent Children’s Specialty Hospital most familiar and homelike to the'patients and their families is die love and bonding shared

patients enter the grounds. Two playgrounds, flowers between staff and patients. “Our staff cares so deeply

and a walking path are part of the homelike environment. And a courtyard complete with benches, tables, chairs and a garden add to the comfort. What’s more, the garden is there for more than viewing. Patients and family members are encouraged to pull weeds and plant flowers. In fact, there are also wheelchair-high garden boxes so children in wheelchairs can participate in

planting and harvesting vegetables.

“Our goal is to make this hospital — which can become home for children for a few days, weeks or even months—a place that is comfortable, welcoming and

about these children that you can’t help but bond Wife one another,” explained Mitchell. Just ask Willie Sanffcrd, a hospital maintenance worker who was recently presented with a Caring for Kids award for always stopping and talking with the children—no matter what he was in the middle of doing. • < Indeed, St. Vincent Children’s Specialty Hospital is a special place—for children, famihes and the staff who tirelessly serve them. In addition to their inpatient services, St. Vincent Children’s Specialty Hospital^effers outpatient services and programs to meet the needs

unintimidating. It clearly helps with their attitude and of patients and families. Occupational, physical and

recovery,” says Mitchell. “We have found that parents are more receptive to the education they need to care for their child when it is done in a comforting place such as

Children’s Specialty Hospital.”

To maintain a sense of as much normalcy as possible, the Children’s Specialty Hospital strives to simply let

speech therapy are all offered on an outpatient basis, and the hospital regularly offers outpatient clinics for cerebral palsy, rehabilitation, spasticity, craniofacial anomalies, cleft palate and feeding disorders. A weight-lifting community outreach program is one of their popular offerings, with adaptive gymnastics and adaptive track

and field coming in 2001.

Children’s Heart Center at St. Vincent

celebrates its first anniversary

The cardiac surgical program at the Children’s Heart Center at St. Vincent Hospital recently celebrated its first anniversary by hosting a party for its young patients who have undergone heart surgery. The party at the Children’s Museum, drew more than 200 participants. In addition, it provided a warm send-off for two children from Kosovo who had been treated for heart disease at St. Vincent Hospital. St. Vincent has been active in donating considerable resources as part of its charity effort, to help fulfill its mission of advocacy and care of the poor. Through its International Heart Surgery Project, the Children’s Heart Center is on track to provide heart surgery to 25 children each year for the next five years. St. Vincent is the largest provider of charity cardiac care in the

Uhited States, through Samaritan’s f rom our community have also Purse, an organization affiliated donated services for these children, with the ministry of Billy Graham. ^ ie International Heart Project is The International Heart Surgery also supported by the Rotarians of Project provides life-saving heart Central Indiana through their “Gift surgery for children from areas Cite program, which provides where access to sophisticated health much-needed funds for medical care is extremely limited. expenses. Children from Haiti, Bosnia, ^ Children’s Heart Center at Kosovo and Mongolia have trav- St. Vincent would not be able to eled to Indianapolis to undergo meet all the needs of these children heart surgery. Since last Febmary, during their stay without the genthe Children’s Heart Center, has erous help and kindness of volun-: provided care for 16 international teers ' congregations have children. Children arriving from graciously welcomed these famiHaiti are aided by the Timmy Foun- hes mt0 their ho . mes cared for dation. The sisters at Hospice St. t * lem during their stay. Joseph in Port-au-Prince help ar- growth °f the Children s range visas and travel documents. Heart Center reflects the continued Local volunteers who speak Hai- growth of all pediatric programs at tian Creole assist with interpreter Vincent Hospital. ,. ( services. Additional information on the St. Vincent pays for all medical Childrens Heart Center can^e expenses during the child’s stay, obtained by visiting its Web site, Generous physicians and dentists www.stvincent.org .ju; www.childrensheartcenter.org., ; , ■■Childhood facf-s

• Childhood leukemia is one of the most commqp childhood cancers. Visit the Web sjtev www.stvincent.org to find out more about cancerous diseases in children. , , ; • Other than asthma, heart disease affects more children than any other childhood disease. Letup about the different types of heart conditions affecting children and what to do if you suspect your child may have a heart problem by looking St. Vincent Hospital up on the Web. • Did you know that St.Vincent Children’s Spe-; cialty Hospital is a rehabilitation facility designed specifically for children and their families? Visitijs Web site to find out how its interdisciplinary team treats the whole child while making parents feel at home. . • One child in 700 is bom with a cleft lip or palate. Visit the Web site for information about the fourth most common birth defect and learn what The Cfleft Palate and Craniofacial Clinic at St Vincent ChildraQ^ Specialty Hospital does to treat children with tbk disorder. . • Flu and cold season is among us. If your child g*t§ sick this winter, be sure to give plenty of fluids apd rest for mild fevers. Learn more about fevers and when to call the doctor by visiting the Web sija, www.stvincent.org. - *4-\