Using Computers in Children's Hospitals









It makes a lot of sense to provide hospitalized kids with microcomputers. Kids in hospital have loads of free time on their hands. They desperately need activities to occupy their minds as the hours tick by. What better way of engaging their minds than by giving them access to educational and recreational software?



A few months ago I sent out letters to about 70 children's hospitals around the country to find out how they might be using computers for educational and recreational purposes. Among the several replies that came back, two hospitals described computer projects glistening with excitement. The Children's Hospital of Oakland, California, has a lab of six computers that get intensive use. And Boston Children's Hospital has set up a highly unique computer project.



What's Happening at the Children's Hospital of Oakland



The computer lab at the Children's Hospital of Oakland has two Apple IIc's, two Mac Classics, a 386 IBM-compatible, and a Socrates video game system. Children at the hospital use these computers each and every day for instructional and recreational purposes. Since the computers are part of the "school program" at the hospital, educational software is emphasized more strongly than recreational software.



As you might expect some of the most popular programs are The Print Shop and The Children's Writing and Publishing Center. School program coordinator Patricia (Patty) Coffin explains that getting kids involved with creative expression helps them keep their minds focussed away from the other routines of hospital life. Computers are also essential writing tools for the many children who's arms are connected to intravenous (IV) boards. These children are unable to hold a pen in their hand, but can manage to peck out words on a keyboard.



Older children in the hospital are excited about writing for the hospital's bi-monthly Teen Newsletter. They use AppleWorks and other word processors to compose the text. Originally this newsletter was planned as a quarterly publication. But the response to the first few issues was so positive that the publishing schedule was accelerated to a bi-monthly.



An interesting facet of this hospital's computer use is that the computers reside on carts and are frequently moved around to the children's bedside. The computers are even shared with children in the intensive care unit. Children who are too sick to even speak often perk up when a computer is wheeled to their beside, commented Patty Coffin.



"People consider the Apple IIc's real old, but they serve our purposes real well," she went on to say. "They don't have a lot of fancy features, but they run so many different types of educational programs. I particularly like the volume control knob on the Apple IIc's, which allows me to turn down the volume when the programs get too noisy. Have you ever been in a small room with excited children and noisy computers each playing a different tune?"



The most popular software programs used on the hospital's Apple II's include Reader Rabbit, Writer Rabbit, Print Shop, Children's Writing and Publishing Center, and the Carmen Sandiego series. The most popular programs on the Mac's are Number Maze, Outnumbered, and Math Blaster. And the favorites on the IBM compatible include Express Publisher, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and the Isaac Asimov science series.



Most of the computers used in the hospital have been donated or have been acquired from the Apples for the Students shopping receipts project, sponsored by Safeway. Next year Coffin plans to obtain a color Mac with her shopping market receipts. She says she'd love to get a CD-ROM disc drive sometime in the near future, too.



One other item high on Coffin's wish list is a phone line for telecommunicating with the outside world. Many of the older children visiting the hospital have asked if they could telecommunicate with their peers back in school.



Apparently the primary financial hurdle to making this happen is not the price of modems or communications software, but rather the price of installing and maintaining an extra phone line. Coffin has been lobbying for this phone line for quite a while, and is hoping that a combination of individual and corporate benefactors can help make it happen.



Since the Children's Hospital of Oakland is located so near to Apple Computer's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California, I was naturally curious to find out whether Apple Computer itself has lent any formal support to this project. Coffin relates that Apple has indeed given encouragement to the project, but has offered little in the way of hardware or other contributions. "Apple Computer must get thousands of requests for computer donations each year," Coffin declared, "so it's understandable that they cannot support everyone's pet project. However, considering the immense positive effect computers can bring to the children here in our hospital, we just hope that in the future Apple might consider our requests with that in mind."






What's Happening at Boston Children's Hospital: The "KidBits" Project




Every successful project starts out with a single individual deciding to get involved and make a difference. Back in 1986, George Boggs, an employee at GTE Laboratories, decided the time was ripe to help bring computers to the children at Boston Children's Hospital. His action was prompted by hearing the plight of a friend's child, who was spending several weeks isolated in the hospital's bone-marrow transplant unit.



Boggs, who has since moved on to work for another company, is a specialist in "human factors" engineering. His special expertise is in understanding how human beings can most efficiently and naturally interact with computer technology. His professional training in this field helped lend insight into the immense usefulness of microcomputers in a pediatric hospital setting.



Using GTE's internal electronic mail network, Boggs was able to solicit support for his ideas from 50 to 60 other GTE employees. The group quickly formed a steering committee to approach the hospital with their proposal.



The original idea was that GTE employees could donate their time and expertise to help train both the hospital's "child life specialists" and the children themselves. During the planning stages of the project children in the hospital were consulted as to how they felt the project should be run. Later on, Boggs recalled that moment: "It was very moving. We sat there listening to these children, who were dealing with a fatal illness, tell us how they wanted computers to help them with their future. I was overwhelmed with their courage."



GTE Laboratories helped the hospital acquire some Apple IIe's and some Mac SE's. The volunteer employees spent time during evenings and weekends showing how the computers could be used. GTE Laboratories has even allowed some of these employees to take off daytime hours to volunteer at the hospital.



To help build enthusiasm for the project, several "computer fairs" were organized. The fairs involved setting up a collection of computer stations with different activities set up at each station. Children were given "computer whiz certificates" for each station they visited. So well-received were these computer fairs that the hospital has planned them as a regularly quarterly event.



When word of the KidBits project got out, other people stepped forward to offer support. The Boston Computer Society, the local user group in the Boston metro area, generously donated copies of their entire public domain and shareware collection. These software programs can be copied and used on the current computers at the hospital, as well as on future computers the hospital may acquire.



A year or two ago the GTE Laboratories employees finished work on a network of Macintoshes in the bone-marrow transplant unit. Making use of their technical expertise, the employees set up a PhoneNet network. PhoneNet is a network which uses standard telephone wires to connect computers. While considered "slow" for use in a business setting, PhoneNet networks are often the network of choice in schools, libraries, and non-profit organizations.



With their PhoneNet network in place, the children in the bone-marrow unit can now send electronic mail back and forth between rooms. They're also able to play interactive games especially designed for use on networks.



One of the most active GTE volunteers in KidBits project, David Fay, says that he'd really like to see a modem and phone line placed on the networked computers. Connecting the kids to the outside world would introduce yet another dimension to the KidBits project.



Since George Bogg's departure from GTE, David Fay has stepped in to help preserve the momentum of the KidBits project. Myra Fox, the director of Child Life Services at the hospital, says that Fay and the other GTE volunteers have shown extraordinary commitment to the KidBits project. "Working on their own time, they have poured their hearts and souls into KidBits. They're a fabulous group of people."



Fox goes on to explain that the "gift of time" is one of the most meaningful gifts the children (and adolescents) in the hospital receive. "Knowing that the GTE employees will be visiting regularly to help with the KidBits project can go far to buoy a patient's spirits."



Myra Fox sums it up all well when she said: "Computers [in hospitals] can help encourage socialization, provide patient entertainment, counteract isolation, promote choices, and offer academic education." All that, and more.



Phil Shapiro



(The author takes a keen interest in projects that broaden access to computer technology. He can be reached via e-mail at: pshapiro@his.com)



Contacts:



Patricia (Patty) Coffin, Coordinator

Hospital School Program

Children's Hospital of Oakland

747 52nd St.

Oakland, CA 94609

(510) 428-3000, ext 5313 (afternoons)



Myra Fox, Director

Child Life Services

The Boston Children's Hospital

300 Longwood Ave.

Boston, MA 02115-9810

(617) 735-7752



David Fay

GTE Laboratories

46 Sylvan Rd.

Waltham, MA 02254

(617) 466-2675 (work)

Internet address: daf1@gte.com





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