Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in New York City has created six spaces in its facility that encourage interactions enhancing early brain development among its patients who are younger than 5 years old.
The hospital partnered with the Bezos Family Foundation and Vroom, the foundation's early learning program, to convert six high-traffic areas in the hospital into spaces where adults are encouraged to interact with children in ways that can advance brain development and learning. The areas have tools and tips developed by Vroom with input from parents, early childhood experts, neuroscientists and community leaders.
There are signs that encourage staff and family caregivers to use every interactions with children to enhance early brain development, from using a sing-song voice while changing diapers to modeling conversations with toddlers.
"In a child's early years, the brain makes more than 1 million neural connections on average each second, which means every moment you spend with a child is an opportunity for brain-building activities," said Carrie Quinn, MD, executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center. "The healthcare environment offers a unique opportunity to reach parents during these critical formative years."
More than 1,000 hospital staff members will participate in training modules that will teach them to apply scientific brain development concepts in their interactions with children and parents.