Hospitals are increasingly arranging for extracurricular services for children and their families who are spending an extended stay, according to an article on the Baltimore Sun website.
"When a child has a life-threatening illness, often the first reaction is to focus on the medical care," said Dr. Aziza Shad, head of the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore. "But it's not just medical care that gets a child better. The support mechanisms that the foundations bring here are almost essential."
Danielle Cook, mother of a cancer survivor and creator of the Happily Hungry program, teaches children with cancer at Sinai hospital how to cook meals they will enjoy.
She offers cooking classes at several hospitals that involve the kids in chopping, mixing and other preparation.