health & wellness >>

For The Children

Hadassah's Doll Project marks 20 years

of helping kids cope with hospital stays.

Barbara Lewis I Contributing Writer

G

P1 a

It may be beautiful on the
outside but it's what's on th
inside that counts

4

•

Call us today at (248) 683-1010.

4460 Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48323

Ask about our dedicated Memory Care Un .

34 December 31 • 2015

JN

reater Detroit Hadassah's Doll
Project has helped more than
80,000 sick or injured children
around the world.
Hadassah sends the volunteer-made
stuffed fabric dolls to Detroit-area
hospitals and to Hadassah Hospital in
Jerusalem. Recently, Hadassah started
sending the dolls to hospitals in the
Philippines as well.
The Doll Project recently celebrated its
20th anniversary with a luncheon for the
volunteers, about 40 of whom gather at
Hadassah House every Thursday morn-
ing to make the dolls.
"Imagine yourself as a child, injured
or sick, entering a large hospital with
the nurses, the noises, the smells and
the general confusion all around you"
said Rochelle Imber of West Bloomfield,
vice president of communications for
Hadassah's Tikvah group.
"How frightened and alone you must
feel! But then you are given a doll dressed
in a hospital gown similar to the one you
are wearing, to comfort you. You can use
the doll to show the doctor where you hurt
and the doctor can use the doll to explain
what will be done to help you."
The idea for the Doll Project came from
Hadassah's Connecticut Chapter. Audrey
Sobel of West Bloomfield, president of the
Greater Detroit Chapter at the time, heard
about it at a national conference.
"They presented the project and were
selling a template for the doll, the pattern
for the gown and instructions for $5" said
Sobel. "I sew, so I thought this would be a
good project for us."
She and Shelley Perlman of Farmington
Hills were the first seamstresses. Other
women, eager to help but who couldn't
sew, cut the doll pieces and gowns from
patterns, clipped the seams, measured tape
for the gowns and stuffed the dolls.
They produced 500 dolls their first year.
Then Eleanor Smith of West Bloomfield
took over and "the project blossomed"
Sobel said.
"Eleanor and Barbara Moretsky [of
Bloomfield Hills] are the two women who
are really responsible for the Thursday
mini-factory" Sobel said. Barbara Charlip
of West Bloomfield now co-chairs the proj-
ect with Smith.
Hospitalized children customize the
dolls by painting their faces, fingernails
and toenails with fabric paint and mark-

Doll Project volunteers: Peggy Dziurlowski,

West Bloomfield; Barbara Gault, Novi; Evie

Gold, Farmington Hills; Eleanor Smith,

Shirley Shultz and Rene Lieberman, all of

West Bloomfield

ers. Hospital staffers use the dolls as ice-
breakers, as distractions from boredom
and as teaching tools.
They can put Ws, casts, slings and
splints on the dolls to give the children a
better understanding of their treatment.
As soon as children enter our doors,
their sense of control is taken away from
them," said Lindsay Heering, manager
of Child Life and Volunteer Services at
Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit,
whose staff uses "medical play" in indi-
vidual and group sessions.
Medical play, such as handling the dolls,
helps the young patients get used to medi-
cal equipment and procedures.
"We recently had an 8-year-old boy in
our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit who led
a session for his two younger siblings" said
Heering. "He took pride in giving direc-
tions and teaching his siblings about his
hospital experience"
Medical play can have long-term ben-
efits as well, said Heering. Many patients
continue role-playing at home to process
their experiences and develop coping
strategies.
Heering said Children's Hospital of
Michigan is very grateful to Hadassah for
the Doll Project. "We could not make this
impact on our patients without their sup-
port"
New Doll Project volunteers are always
welcome. You don't have to be a member
of Hadassah. Just show up on Thursday
morning at 9:30 a.m. at Hadassah
House, 5030 Orchard Lake Road, West
Bloomfield. For more information, call
(248) 683-5030. *