The Development of a Multidisciplinary Support Network to Support Hospitalized Pediatric Patients, Their Families, and Hospital Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to emotional and behavioral challenges for hospitalized pediatric patients, their families, and staff. Visitor restrictions, closure of patient lounges and playrooms, masking requirements, and enhanced isolation rules resulted in limited access to typical sources of psychosocial support during this traumatic event. Complementary and integrative health therapies such as acupuncture and related therapies are well suited to provide the humanitarian support patients and families need during times of crisis. Objective: The Multidisciplinary Support Network (i.e., Network) was formed to redesign the delivery of acupuncture and other integrative therapies alongside psychosocial support for hospitalized children, their families, and staff. Intervention: Network members represented a broad range of previously siloed disciplines including integrative therapies, art therapy, child life, nursing, pastoral care, adolescent medicine, pediatric hospital medicine, psychology, and child and adolescent psychiatry. The Network aimed to identify gaps in service and create resources to support children and families during this challenging time. Results: The Network compiled existing complementary and integrative services, provided training on integrative therapies to staff, pediatric trainees, and faculty, developed the Comfort Box containing items to provide symptom relief including pain, anxiety and difficulty sleeping, as well as closed-circuit programming, a pediatric companionship program connecting medical student volunteer companions with pediatric patients, and a well-being workbook. Conclusion: Collaborative teamwork across disciplines using integrative therapies was key to humanitarian efforts to support hospitalized children and their families during this crisis.

Acupuncture for pediatric sickle cell pain management: A promising non-opioid therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of acupuncture for pain management in children with sickle cell disease. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review of a single-institution experience on the use of acupuncture in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease was evaluated between 2012-2019. Demographic characteristics, presenting pain location, pain scores pre- and post-acupuncture, and adverse events were collected. SETTING: Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Pediatric Hematology outpatient and inpatient units. INTERVENTIONS: Acupuncture was performed by six licensed acupuncturists. Point prescriptions were based on pain location, philosophies of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Japanese Style of Kiiko Matsumoto acupuncture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain reduction as measured by two Verbal Pain Scales. RESULTS: Ninety acupuncture treatments were administered to twenty-four patients with sickle cell disease: median age 17.5 years, 62 % female, 37.5 % African American, 50 % Hispanic. The mean treatment duration was 18.5 ±â€¯4.8 min. Fifty-five treatments had documented pre/post-acupuncture pain scores. Pain reduction was achieved in 65.5 % of these treatments. A 0-10 pain scale used in 13 treatments reported a mean pre-acupuncture score of 7.31 ±â€¯1.75, post-acupuncture score of 6.08 ±â€¯1.85, and a mean pain score change of 1.23 ±â€¯1.09 (p = 0.11); A 0-4 pain scale used in 42 treatments reported a mean pre-acupuncture pain score of 3.31 ±â€¯0.72, post-acupuncture score of 2.33 ±â€¯0.98, and a mean pain score change of 0.98 ±â€¯0.99 (p < 0.0001). No adverse events were noted. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture therapy decreased pain for our patients with sickle cell disease, providing a safe non-opioid therapeutic option.