Hope for Henry nonprofit program empowers kids, families

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Patients who choose to participate in the nonprofit’s Super Rewards for Super Kids program, its most popular initiative, receive a game board that walks them step-by-step through one of 17 procedures — including MRIs, CT scans, blood draws and vaccinations — using age-appropriate language and colorful graphics.

The program, available for patients ranging from toddlers to older teenagers, is designed to make the kids more comfortable during procedures, educate them about their own health, and reward them once treatments are completed. Prizes include jewelry, dolls, radios, digital cameras and portable DVD players. The organization offers the program to healthcare facilities at no charge, and the majority of rewards are provided to Hope for Henry in-kind by companies like Paramount, Kendra Scott and Lids.

Pediatric patients have few chances to make their own decisions in healthcare, and this program gives them the power to consent to something themselves, Strongin and Goldberg said.

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Erin Behen, a certified child life specialist for Seattle Children’s, has been using the Super Rewards program with patients undergoing proton therapy at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center since January 2022.

“When [kids] first get a diagnosis, they’re often in the room with their parents. The medical providers come in, and they’re talking about all of this stuff at a very high level. … This program breaks things down in a very digestible way,” Behen said.

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