Creating Contactless Legacy Items in the Age of COVID-19

As a children’s hospital on the border of Queens and Long Island in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic epicenter, our sister hospital whom we are connected to was overtaken by COVID-19 patients, overflowing into the children’s hospital. With many of these patients on ventilators and unable to have visitors, the staff sought out a form of connection for these patients’ families, particularly those nearing end-of-life. Strict isolation and infection control policies made it difficult to offer our typical legacy items and end-of-life support, so our team had to think outside the box to come up with a way of creating legacy items without ever entering the patients’ rooms. Using our ipads, we were able to create legacy items by having the nurses take photos of the patients’ hands for us to edit to resemble something similar to a handprint that would be meaningful for families. Our team also created a resource packet to be sent to families affected by the virus. This packet included information about talking to children about death and dying, helpful resources and books to utilize at home, as well as therapeutic interventions to facilitate positive coping, expression, and the grief process. This webinar provides insight into the development of these resources and the challenges we faced throughout the process, enabling other professionals to utilize these techniques if faced with similar challenges.

Learning Objectives: 

-Explore ways to provide end-of-life support to children of adult patients from a distance
-Identify the challenges around providing legacy items during a global pandemic
-Learn how to utilize several free iPad apps to edit photos and create lasting legacy items

Suggested Domain: Intervention