'Our work is about joy': the artists redesigning hospitals for kids

Children coming from abusive households are often reluctant to discuss their past experiences. A Mexican foundation is using animated characters to help abused and ill children speak about their lives.

Each year, close to three million dogs and cats are killed in shelters - in some cities more than 70 percent of the animals in shelters are euthanized. Target Zero is a program that works with fellow cities to spay and neuter animals and return them to the streets. Public complaints about animals have plummeted, and many shelters are well on their way to achieving a 'zero-kill' status.

A nutrient powder can save anemic children, but the people who could benefit are distrustful. Having local mothers distribute the supplement was successful in Bangladesh.

Being poor can make you sick because of where you work, live and eat. Medical-legal partnerships, in hospitals U.S. cities, are attacking these social determinants through legal aid to the poor, often class-action lawsuits.

In the developing world, intestinal worms stunt physical and mental growth, drain energy, and can inhibit school work for children. Deworm the World is a global campaign that lobbied the Delhi government to regularly distribute deworming pills to school children. The benefits decrease student absenteeism and increase cost-saving measures.

Child First is a program in Connecticut, where staff members deliver home-based parent guidance and child-parent psychotherapy to help prevent the detrimental physical and mental effects of toxic stress on children. The engagement is guided by an evidence-based methodology called Child-Parent Psychotherapy, which is grounded in collaborative problem solving.

Even though most central line infections are preventable, they are a leading cause of death in the United States. The core of the problem resides in a hospital's approach, whether they put the effort into treating patients like they are in a car crash or a plane crash. Roseville Medical Center looked at the mistakes of other hospitals and have revolutionized how they treat central lines with a new checklist, a specialized vascular team tasked with the central lines, and annual competency tests for contract nurses.

Undergoing surgery is a stress-inducing prospect for anyone, but children are especially vulnerable to anxiety prior to operations. To avoid using risky anti-anxiety medications on young patients, two anesthesiologists at the Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford have developed creative techniques to distract children from their forthcoming surgeries. They use toys and a unique low-cost video projection system called BERT-Bedside Entertainment Theater.

Over 50 percent of Wisconsin counties lack mental health professionals to serve the populations, and the shortage directly affects children’s mental health. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has submitted funds to a clinic in Ashwaubenon to integrate mental health counselors into primary care work. The effort is nationwide and has shown to be effective in identifying early signs of anxiety and depression beyond patients’ awareness so that counseling is accessible and treatment can be administered.

Arts education programs in the United States are subjected to cutting for maintaining tight school budgets. Technology sectors in Seattle seek professionals who have been trained in problem solving skills and innovative idea generation. In response, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture collaborate to promote equity in students’ access to the arts.