We are child development experts, who believe that all hospitalized children and families should have access to psychosocial care, to minimize the stress and anxiety of healthcare experiences. Improving hospital care for children requires the need to address and assess the respect of children’s rights in healthcare. Adopting a human-rights based approach to health is reinforced by the WHO Regional Office for Europe Strategy “Investing in children: child and adolescent health strategy for Europe 2015-2020’, which states that “as human rights become better respected, they become more effective in helping governments to strengthen their health systems, deliver health care for all and improve health. Countries can use their health and development strategies to promote systematic application of human rights standards.” Fulfilling children’s rights in the design, planning and delivery of healthcare includes the right to play and learning (standard 3), and the need for trained specialists to deliver therapeutic play interventions to stimulate development and for preparation of medical events, distraction, self-expression, socialization and pain management, and to protect the child’s right to information and participation (standard 4). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends hospitals to promote research about the benefits of play, provide training to clinicians on how to communicate with children, and to implement policies guaranteeing children’s right to play.

Our team is dynamic in our comprehensive understanding of the diversity of international family systems, as well as the operations of hospital systems around the globe. Our services foster new resources and sustainable support systems for our partner hospitals, clinics, and NGOs globally, enabling them to enhance protective frameworks and strengthen healthcare experiences for the children and families in their care. KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE Collaboratively identify strengths to enhance child-friendly engagement utilizing the Pediatric Patient's Hierarchy of Developmental Needs (PPHDN) © as a framework. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN Promote development of accessible, child-friendly healthcare environments. STAFF EDUCATION/TRAINING Facilitate skill development on appropriate language and engagement of pediatric patients. SERVICE DEVELOPMENT Creation or enhancement of sustainable pediatric psychosocial services and staffing. RESEARCH Use and conduct research to support the positive impact of these services on individual organizations and communities. RESOURCE FOSTERING Attract visionaries to our partners to support opportunities for psychosocial programming facilitation, research, and development through our global networks. We believe that in order for enhanced healthcare experiences for children and families to become sustainable, training must be accessible, culturally responsive and empower local healthcare practitioners to apply pediatric psychosocial care practices within the hospitals/clinics of their unique cultural contexts. For this reason we employ the following approach to assist our global partners: 1. On-Site Visit We believe that each partnership opportunity is unique. As the first step in the process, we meet on-site with the team to learn about their organization, their goals and their resources. 2. Identify Partners' Potential During this phase we work with partners to determine what resources and services will be best suited to assist them in reaching their desired goals. 3. Tailored Support Delivery Once we have collaboratively identified a strategy to assist our partners in meeting their potential, we work to support sustainable program or process improvements.

Services provided by Pediatric Potential are guided by the education and experience of our team, which ranges from North America, South East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. For this our organization developed the Pediatric Patient’s Hierarchy of Developmental Needs (PPHDN)© which is a prioritization framework for addressing pediatric psychosocial care gaps and to inform evidence-based approaches for enhancing access to culturally responsive psychosocial care globally. Pediatric Potential utilizes the PPHDN© as a lens for collaboratively learning about each organization's strengths and areas of potential in addressing patients’ psychosocial needs, with the ultimate goal being 'Developmental Well-being: Physical/Mental Health and Community Integration.'

We consider our progress in relation to the success of our global partners, and their ability to provide sustainable support systems for the children and families in their care. During initial site visits to partner hospitals/pediatric units, we identify organizational strengths and recommend areas for psychosocial care enhancement in addressing patients’ needs through each level in the PPHDN, and then collaboratively develop a customized work plan. Once recommended areas for psychosocial care enhancement have been addressed, we re-evaluate our partners ability to provide sustainable supports systems for the children and families in their care by utilizing the PPHDN.

PEDIATRIC PSYCHOSOCIAL ENHANCEMENT INDIA The Priyanka Foundation, Child Life Services Program; Bangalore Service Development - Consulted on psychosocial service enhancements with hospital and program leadership - Assisted in the recruitment of a new Child Life Practitioner team member Resource Fostering - Successful co-facilitation of a grant to support needed therapeutic materials and developmentally appropriate toys for children in hospital Staff Education/Training - Remote mentorship to two Child Life Practitioner team members - Facilitated pediatric psychosocial care education modules on-site LAOS Friends Without a Border (FWOB), Laos Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC); Luang Prabang Service Development - Consulted on psychosocial service enhancements with hospital and program leadership Staff Education/Training - Remote mentorship to their LFHC Child Life Therapist team member - Supported the successful application for their LFHC Child Life Therapist to attend an international psychosocial care conference Resource Fostering - Successful co-facilitation of a grant to support needed therapeutic materials and developmentally appropriate toys for children in hospital PALESTINE Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF); Ohio, USA and Ramallah The Huda Al Masri Pediatric Cancer Department - West Bank The Dr. Musa & Suhaila Nasir Pediatric Cancer Department - Gaza Service Development - Provided psychosocial support to a PCRF patient/family; post renal transplant abroad Knowledge Exchange - Facilitated site visits to two pediatric oncology departments in Palestine - Developed a Summary Report & recommendations for increased psychosocial care initiatives based on the Pediatric Psychosocial Hierarchy of Developmental Needs (PPHDN) model PEDIATRIC RESEARCH QATAR Our team is at the end stage of collecting data for a multidisciplinary study titled ‘Parental Holding to Manage Children’s Anxiety with Venipuncture: Experiences from Qatar.’ The outcome from the data is intended to inform clinical practice for how children are placed ruing a blood draw or IV procedure (supine or sitting) and we are hopeful this study will contribute to the gap in the literature in the GCC region by also studying the outcomes of parent and nurse satisfaction. ITALY University of Turin, Department of Psychology; Turin Submitted two research proposals to initiate collaborative research: - ‘A Cross Cultural Assessment of Virtual Reality as a Quality of Life Therapeutic Intervention Tool for Children, Adolescents and Young Adult (CAYA) Patients with Cancer in Qatar and Italy’ - ‘COVID-19 Emergency: Social distancing and social exclusion as risks for anxiety, depression, suicide ideation and attempts in adolescents in Qatar, Italy, UK and Palestine’ NEXT… Continued collaboration with our current partners and the development of new pediatric psychosocial care initiatives with new global network partners in Palestine, Switzerland and the U.S.