Literally Healing

The hospital's Literally Healing™ program is a multi-faceted therapeutic program that uses books to speak to children in a language they can understand - on their level.

Carefully screened books are placed in a Patient Library and are provided free-of-charge. Books in this library have been carefully reviewed by hospital staff for their ability to help hospitalized children better understand and master the issues they face on a daily basis, issues that can include depression, sibling jealousy or guilt, fear of disfigurement; living with a permanent disability; and even death and grieving.

Books are prescribed from this library of more than 800 titles by physicians, social workers and psychiatrists based on the needs of each child. Through reading these books, our patients build mastery, courage, and hope during their hospitalization. Literally Healing staff read therapeutic books to children in conjunction with social workers, child life specialists, and other mental health professionals.

The thematic issues and topics addressed in the books read to our patients often prompts discussions about worries and fears that a child might not otherwise discuss. These discussions allow our team of caregivers to intervene and support each patient and help them overcome these fears.

How Literally Healing™ Helps Kids Heal

Bibliotherapy, as provided through our hospital's Literally Healing™ Program, can help children understand and cope with the following issues while they are receiving care in our hospital:

• Abuse
• Changes in family structure
• Death and grieving
• Disability and physical limitations
• Diversity
• Doctor visits
• Feelings
• Hospitalization
• Illness
• Learning differences
• Mastery
• Sibling issues
• Social pressures
• Surgery

A Real-Life Example of Helping Kids Heal

Kathy's Hats
An 8-year old patient is reluctant to cut off her hair to begin her chemotherapy treatment. Her social worker reads her Kathy's Hats, a story about a girl who discovers that her hair regrows after treatment. At the end of the story, the young girl announces "I'm ready to cut my hair off."

Patient Library

The program’s centerpiece, the therapeutic library stocks approximately 1,000 children’s books which are kept in the Office of Volunteer Services. Satellite libraries are maintained within Spiritual Care Services, the Child Life Program, the Rehabilitation Unit, as well as the Neonatal and Infant Critical Care Unit.

Bedside Readers

Literally Healing™ also encompasses a program of bedside readers — trained volunteers who read storybooks for children too sick to leave their beds. Volunteer as a bedside reader.

The BookMOObile

Hospital staff have refashioned a hospital cart into an irresistible BookMOObile, complete with a wooden cow face and tail, gingham ribbon, and cowbell. This mobile cart, provides patients with free books for all ages, from board books for infants to novels for teens.

Experience the Book
(English)	(Espanol)

Special Help for Spina Bifida Patients

Our staff is called upon to assist healthcare professionals in creating and editing books that can help empower sick and injured children.

One such instance, a collaboration between Claire Austin and Dr. Stacey Mizokawa, generously supported by First 5 LA, resulted in the publication of Right Under My Nose.

Right Under My Nose is a one-of-a-kind publication designed to help children with spina bifida understand their condition, discover new ways to enrich their lives and help their parents and caregivers answer many of the tough questions that arise. The book is hosted as an interactive experience in both English and Spanish.