Creating Waiting Rooms Worthy of the Kids They Serve

[Music]

[Applause]

hey

everybody i really was making you wait i

didn’t forget i was making you wait

well because waiting is fun right you

all like waiting

you started to get a little

uncomfortable thought i was gonna crash

i wasn’t i love waiting it’s super fun

yeah said no one ever we hate waiting

you know where i do a lot of waiting

at the doctor’s office and for me it’s

probably the worst part of the entire

experience for me

and it’s inevitable right i mean we have

to wait

if we all showed up at once that’d be

probably even worse really chaotic

it can be long and stressful right if

you’re a parent like me could be just

plain crazy so

if it feels uncomfortable to wait or if

it feels stressful

and boring for you as adults

imagine what that feels like through the

eyes of a child

over 90 percent of the kids in the

united states see a doctor

every year and on average they’re going

to see a doctor

31 times from the time they’re born to

the time they’re 21.

honestly i think that number’s low my

kids are at the doctor way more than

that

and really if you have sick kids that

number will easily double

now taking the kids to the doctor is no

joke right

it can be scary for them can be crazy

for parents it’s chaotic in a recent

national survey

half of parents reported that their kids

were actually scared of going to the

doctor

does that seem insane it’s really not

children often report feeling afraid or

anxious about going to the doctor

and when kids are anxious what’s really

happening is a lot of times they’re

imagining something

much worse than what’s really going on

doctor’s office shot doctor’s office

sick right it’s this fear of the unknown

so they’re making it up in their head

so they might worry that everything’s

gonna hurt right and they get stressed

out

and that stress is real stress actually

can impede

health care good quality health care in

that same study

one out of five parents actually said it

was so hard to concentrate on what the

doctor or nurse was saying because their

kids were so upset

that they delay routine appointments and

vaccinations just to avoid the

experience altogether

that’s crazy i mean delaying health care

because your kids get upset

it can even manifest into white coat

syndrome

it’s this phenomenon where your blood

pressure actually

rises into an abnormal range just at the

thought

of being at the doctor’s office 20 of us

so i think we can all agree going to the

doctor’s office as a kid can be scary

right

or maybe it’s bringing up some emotions

for you right

think back to when you were a kid

this is me back when i was

cool yeah when i was a kid

i don’t have so many memories about the

doctor’s office per se

but i have a lot of vivid memories about

going to the dentist as a kid

so when i was little it was a big deal

to go to the dentist and my family

my mom would have to get us out of

school early yeah

and she’d load us all up into the car

and she’d drive us

about a half hour away into town for the

dentist appointments

and let me tell you what this was like

so you walk into this

medical office building with lots of

different offices and

the first thing that you see when you

walk into the lobby

is this huge bright blue sailfish

on the wall i mean i’m talking like a

10-foot

sailfish or marlin i don’t know whatever

it was it’s weird right

on the wall like what’s with fish and

dennis office yeah

you’re laughing because it’s true so

anyway once you get past the sailfish

you’d go down the steps into the

basement

and there was this bathroom and my mom

always made us

pack our toothbrushes and toothpaste and

she’d make us go into the bathroom

and we’d have to brush our teeth before

we went back to get our teeth

brushed and cleaned by the dentist was

that just my mom

ah no see your mom did it too that’s

funny right

it was in those moments that i remember

feeling anxious

nervous right like did i have a cavity

or was i going to be in trouble because

my teeth weren’t clean

but not everything about the dentist’s

office was bad

two words highlights magazines

yes yes yeah still love them today

so the best part about going there was

that if you got to be the first one in

when the new edition was there

you could be the first one to circle all

those hidden objects before somebody

else screwed it up

had to cross things out in there

we also had a treasure chest right so

like it was really just a glorified shoe

box but it had stickers in it and that

was awesome

and those moments right that we that we

remember that bring us joy

those are the moments when your fears

about being there

melt away so

it’s been a few years since that picture

i’m still cool but i’m a mom

now chocolate’s still life but

as a mom right as an adult i carry that

baggage

with me along with my parenting fears

right as i take my own kids to the

waiting room

so what’s it like to take kids to the

doctor’s office

i’ll tell you what it’s like to take my

kids to the doctor’s office

they’re sweet they’re lovely lovely kids

but let me tell you a story

about a year ago i took both of them

um to the doctor’s office for a routine

visit

wellness checks nothing scary in fact um

we always tell them like my husband and

i will say like no owies

right no shots because that’s what

they’re always thinking like if they

gotta go to the doctor they’re getting a

shot

so when you take kids to the dentist or

the doctor’s office you walk

in you check in you do your paperwork

and the receptionist hands you a

clipboard

with about a four page questionnaire and

she says okay you’re all checked in

go over here sit down and wait and the

nurse will call you when she’s ready

okay sounds good so we go over

and i take my seat and i start in on my

four page questionnaire

and my kids start being kids and what do

they do

they’re on the floor they’re climbing on

chairs they’re digging in my purse right

like can i have a snack right can i have

your phone mom

and i’m like no can you just sit down

and just can you just sit down and be

still

because that’s the expectation right i

mean it’s informal that’s not like

there’s rules in the waiting room

but you’re supposed to go in and sit

down and be quiet

wait patiently for the doctor will see

you now

but what other choice did they have

right it’s either clinging to me out of

fear

or running around and this particular

doctor’s office had one

option for them a children’s area well

it wasn’t much of a children’s area it

was a big screen tv

up in the corner and um two of these

like tiny little

plastic chairs for them to sit on that

was it

so think about that experience and you

may have

had something similar happen right in

that chaotic

like stressful moment as a parent i knew

that we could do better i knew that this

experience could be better not just for

my family but for all the families

that have to go through that so how was

i gonna do that

that’s when i started digging in

i work for a large healthcare

organization

i’ve spent a lot of my career trying to

do really good things

for kids i have two children’s programs

at this organization one aimed at

empowering kids to make healthy choices

for life

the other aimed at inspiring kids to be

curious

problem solving critically thinking

adults

so i’m not a pediatric nurse

or a designer or a doctor i’m a health

care administrator

but i’m invested in kids wellness

personally

and professionally so when you’re me

where do you start well i was really

lucky i had an organization behind me

that supported this idea to make this

better and i have a

crazy talented team beside me to help

take this idea to the next level and

make it happen

well there’s no road map for this so

what you do is you look for models that

exist already right

you don’t need to reinvent the wheel for

this but

the problem is waiting rooms haven’t

really changed that much since i was a

kid or

even since my parents were kids

here’s a level set this is what a

waiting room looked like

back in the 19 something when i was a

kid

mauve sage green probably gives it away

here’s what a waiting room looks like

now there’s not much difference

you can see the addition of the big

screen tv

a little play area in the corner but

really kind of void of

stimulation these are both actually

pediatric waiting rooms

basically since the 1970s healthcare

environmental research

has been around and it’s been focused on

improving the patient experience

which is good right but it’s improving

the experience for adults

the the stakeholders really right the

ones making medical decisions

paying the bills they’re the

stakeholders not kids

the research focused on kids um focuses

on hospital rooms right making sick kids

feel better

or procedure areas which makes a lot of

sense but doesn’t really help me

for trying to figure out what to do in a

waiting room to make it fun

so without a model you have to start

looking at just designing for kids

right so the research that’s out there

to support that

you look at schools museums and what you

see when you design for kids

color shapes animals movement

right fun things these are positive

distractions that can actually make kids

feel comfortable

in some of these settings and play-based

distractions are a good idea too

right yeah plays a good answer

mr rogers is famous for saying play is

the real work of childhood

because it’s serious learning for them

and he’s right

play is essential for kids

over and over again the research

supports that play improves

physical skills mental ability social

and emotional awareness

so if play makes a lot of sense

why then do we insist me included that

kids go in and sit down and be quiet and

don’t move and wait patiently

have you met a kid wait have you met my

kids

yeah sup they’re super patient they love

sitting down and being still

no they don’t they’re not wired for that

you guys kids are not wired to sit down

and not wiggle at all

and that’s why these waiting rooms have

to change

we need developmentally appropriate

active

fun waiting room spaces that feel

a whole lot kinder to these kids we’re

trying to to entertain

play areas and waiting rooms that can

cater to both sick kids

and well kids so that’s a novel idea

right

do i have you convinced yes play areas

everywhere right

so if play is the answer to decreasing

kids anxiety

and improving the patient experience for

families why aren’t they

in every clinic dentist office across

the nation

is it possible to create these

fun spaces but keep them clean

without screens make them fun a place

that can make sick kids smile

well it turns out it’s not that easy

yeah

play play areas and waiting rooms are

kind of a tricky thing

show me if you remember these

yeah see bring them back lots of

memories these are bead mazes these are

these are fun these are entertaining for

kids

they were really popular in the 90s they

probably still exist in a lot of the

spaces today

but um let me tell you something these

are disgusting

they are they are full of germs you you

it’s impossible to clean

these things right and post pandemic

toys like this are going to be obsolete

so they’re gone right so if we can’t

have these and we don’t put in tvs

what are we supposed to do we have to

start thinking like kids

we have to get creative and use our

imagination and that’s what our team did

we started thinking about kids think

about your kids

or your grandkids or maybe yourself as a

child

when are they the happiest right when

they’re playing

when they’re just moving around and

playing

so now imagine that that joy that they

find in a museum or a park

and we’re going to take that joy from

the park and we’re going to put it into

a pediatrician’s office taking a place

that can spark

fear in kids and turning it into a place

that can spark

curiosity and imagination

here’s what happens when you think like

kids and you think big

no not this one this is the before

picture this is a remodel project

so this was an existing children’s area

here

in a clinic that um the clinic

leadership

um thought my crazy idea was was a good

one

and this dark sort of cramped space all

the toys have been taken out it really

didn’t get used much

and it was a blank slate for us right

and we took it

and we took all that inspiration from

where kids play

sensory paths mindfulness we thought

about

yoga we thought about building spaces

for

every kid to enjoy regardless of their

ability

and we made something extraordinary

this is what it looks like when you

design

for kids it’s bright

it’s colorful it’s a place where they

don’t have to sit down

and be quiet there’s no shushing right

there’s no don’t touch

anything stop touching stop touching

this is a welcoming space and the best

part is that there’s no toys in here to

clean

there’s no directions it’s it’s really

easy and it’s really

fun when kids come in they see a castle

space and they see bright colors

they see kids that look like them on the

wall

they can pretend they can they can

pretend to be ogres or princesses as

they make

their way through the pathway in the

castle on a sensory path

they can do yoga these are mine by the

way these are my two

they’re showing me their favorite throne

poses right

king poses so there’s a yoga wall where

they can do some breathing and some yoga

exercises

they’re not digging in my purse now

they’re hopping on one foot they’re

making silly faces

they’re instinctively doing what kids do

and they’re having fun

this makes me so happy as a healthcare

administrator this makes me really

really happy but it makes me even

happier

as a mom as a parent to see kids in a

space like this

now this is their core memory not a blue

sailfish in a basement dentist’s office

right this is my

son maverick and my daughter mila when i

took him to see the space for the first

time

they instinctively ran to it mom can we

play

and i said absolutely and all i had to

do was stand back and watch

they immediately took off hopping on the

path

skipping through laughing and playing

this is a space now that they think is

for fun

right can we go back to that doctor that

has that fun castle in the waiting room

this is what it looks like when you

design for kids

that space says to kids you belong and

we’re glad you’re here

so as a parent would you want your kids

to have an experience like that would it

make things easier for you or better for

you

doctors nurses dentists would you want

your patients to have an experience like

that

administrators like me you see this as

an opportunity

to market your space this clinic reports

fabulous results they’re seeing more and

more parents

interacting and playing with their kids

versus

offering ipads or phones as a

distraction while they wait

the doctors are happy staff love it

and as a health care organization it

feels really good to practice what we

preach

now this is just one idea right in one

clinic but it made a difference

and big or small everybody every

investment

in kids is meaningful and it’s impactful

and maybe the return on this investment

for us isn’t about revenue but it’s

about our kids having positive

experiences

because when children play the world

wins

this is about investing in their

well-being creating joyful spaces worthy

of the kids they serve

a place for kids to play but really a

place

to treat kids like the stakeholders they

really

[Applause]

are

you