Astrid Strong

Astrid Strong is the manager of the child life program.

She says they hope to revamp four other play areas at Hotel Dieu and KGH by the fall.

Pictured are: Astrid Strong, Manager, Child Life Program, KGH, and Kathy McAllister.

"We know that play helps children work out a wide range of feelings such as fear, anger, and sadness and has a very positive impact on healing," said Astrid Strong, Manager of Child Life Programs for Hotel Dieu and KGH.

The Students' Art Gallery is one such project," says Astrid Strong, Manager of the Child Life Program at Kingston General Hospital."Not only does it showcase the talent of local young artists, but it also meets the objective of creating a child-oriented environment that encourages social interaction and sets an appropriate tone and feeling for the pediatric population."

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For further information, contact Elizabeth Bardon, Director of Patient and Community Relations, at 544-3400, ext. 2656, or Astrid Strong, Manager, Child Life Program, at 549-6666, ext. 3481.

"The beads are a visual way for kids to tell their story and the journey they are taking because of their illness," said Astrid Strong, manager of the Child Life Program in Kingston. Children with cancer or cystic fibrosis will be given leather strings with beads that spell out their names, Child Life symbols (an open heart and a star) and the KGH logo. On every visit to the hospital, a child will be given beads for steps in the journey of their illness, Strong said. "Anything from an overnight stay to a bone marrow transplant, a good or lousy day, will get a bead," she said."Each bead signifies an event, a challenge, a triumph." These aren't ordinary store beads. They are made by a mother-daughter team who will make many of the beads specially for the Kingston program. A red wooden bead will be given out for blood work, a ladybug bead for luck, and a ceramic moon bead for an overnight stay, Strong said. Other beads are specific to the illnesses, such as a white wooden bead for chemotherapy treatment, a silly-face bead for hair loss, and an apple bead for patients who maintain or gain weight while they're not in hospital. "This is an acknowledgement of the journey that a family shares along the way of an illness," Strong said. Child Life is concerned with the well-being of the kids and their families, and works with patients in pediatric units at Kingston General Hospital, Hotel Dieu and the Kingston Regional Cancer Centre. The program is on-call when children come in to emergency rooms, or any time a child is admitted to hospital and needs support. A display explaining the program will hang in the inpatient unit at KGH for this week's Child Life Week, and the program will begin the following week. A Child Life specialist heard about the bead program at a conference and brought the idea back to Kingston.Other hospitals called them "bravery beads," but the staff here wanted to change the name to courage. "Courage is the attitude, the strength, learning and experiencing, that the patient goes through.
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We thought this name would be a good way to go," Strong said. There are about 60 pediatric cancer patients in Kingston and 24 children suffering from cystic fibrosis.