Ever wonder what it’s like to be “the voice” of a building? How about a Castle?
“I’m Allie, I’m a child life specialist,” Allie Briggs said to the Delaney family in the lobby of the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “We’re going to listen to your voice in the elevator.”
Lincoln Delaney, a zany eight-year-old, is no stranger to clinics and hospitals.
“So, when I walked in the elevator it said, ‘going up!’ It made me laugh so hard,” Lincoln said hearing his words over the speaker. “Because it’s cool.”
Every corner of the Castle is specifically designed to welcome kids and families. So, it made perfect sense to add a positive tone to a space hoisting people to healing corridors.
“The kids and family here love it,” Briggs told the Delaneys. “Oh, they are so floored whenever they hear your voice. They absolutely love it.”
Child Life manager Carrie Kindopp said, “it puts a smile on my face. I think it puts a smile on everybody’s face and it just reminds us why we do what we do every day.”
“We take a lot of pride in our culture here. Our culture is huge here in the Castle. You feel it when you walk through the doors.”
Lincoln hopes his voice calms patients
Lincoln, who’s dealt with severe allergies his entire life, is the perfect pick to raise spirits with his recording.
“Lincoln is a super outgoing kid and loves to talk,” Lincoln’s mom Jade said. “Lincoln is a Children’s Miracle Network kiddo. He was a NICU baby as well.”
Lincoln adds, “so then we went to the audio (booth) and I’m like, I’m so excited.”
Months before hearing his voice at the Castle, Lincoln spent time in the audio booth recording pages of lines for the elevator.
“Recording was super fun,” Jade said. “He felt like a true star when he left.”
Lincoln said he felt, “kind of like, amazing.”
“Hyped up.”
While Lincoln channeled high-energy mode, he hopes his voice helps kids relax on their visit to the hospital.
“If you feel calm, you don’t get more scared and then it takes more time. If you calm down, it takes less time,” Lincoln said.
Jade added, “having your environment make you feel calm really helps you to have a more effective appointment and therefore a better outcome.”
Little touches boost family-centered care
The Sanford Children’s Hospital is filled with little touches built to boost calm, family-centered care. Kindopp says hallways feature playful doors and windows along with special ribbons on the floor.
“They might seem small or insignificant to us on the daily but it’s huge to our families that we serve here. It makes a really big impression and impact on their stay,” Kindopp said.
From the magic of Truman’s Closet to fun playrooms, the goal is to influence a young patient’s perception of healthcare.
“It’s important for a kid’s healing process,” Kindopp said. “Kids come in with lots of different uncertainties. There’s unknowns, there’s loss of control. There’s lots of different things that go through those little minds that make them really nervous in this environment,” Kindopp said.
“We recognize that here at Sanford in the Castle. So, what are we doing to help counteract that stress and anxiety?”
At the Castle, kids’ voices matter
New innovations, like Lincoln’s voice, continue to come online every year.
“Hopefully, it speaks volumes to them that we have kids at the heart of everything that we do here at the Castle. That kids’ voices matter. They really, really do. We want to listen to kids and what they have to say,” Kindopp said.
Kindopp adds the incredible caregivers within the Castle walls are the cherry on top. Providing comprehensive care, close to home, can make a big difference.
“When you have a healthcare situation, everything else falls away,” Jade said remembering Lincoln’s journey. “Every single person is going to walk through a medical journey at some point in their life. It really is a universal truth that we’re all going to face. I don’t think anyone does it better than Sanford. So, that’s why I want to continue to be a champion for this organization and make sure that people know that right here in our backyard we have excellent care. That means a lot to me.”
Learn more
- Medicine and imagination meet at Sanford Children’s Hospital
- ‘Perry the Caterpillar’ joins garden at children’s hospital
- NICU read-a-thon helps babies and families alike
…
Posted In Children's, Foundation, Sioux Falls
