What is a Glories hat?
A Glories hat is a soft, colorful, jester-like cap specifically designed to be responsive to both the physical and the emotional needs of critically or chronically ill children. It was designed with the input of Child Life Specialists at Johns Hopkins (MD), Walter Reed Army Medical Center (DC), Children's National Medical Center (DC), and Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children (VA). However, and more importantly, it was also designed to be produced through a community youth-driven team-building process. Glories hats are distributed in hat delivery events scheduled through the Child Life Departments in major children's hospitals.
Throughout the youth driven community-based production process, the Glories hat is filled with "happy thoughts" so that recipients "Wear the Glories hat and think happy thoughts!
Why a hat?
A Glories hat serves as a symbol of peer solidarity for all hospitalized children. It signifies peer-support because it is produced by youth in local teambuilding workshop events where they are "filled with happy thoughts". The hats are specifically designated for locally hospitalized children, their families and medical professionals who "Wear the hats and think happy thoughts!" The systematic process of making hats (organizational management) combined with the program's educational applications (curriculum) builds self esteem, efficacy, trust and ethics in community youth while enhancing the healing process in hospital environments.
Because the Glories hat serves as the receptacle for hope and support, "Filling them with happy thoughts" throughout the team-based production process promotes positive communication skills and builds awareness of good mental hygiene (Self-talk). Patients receiving the hats vision hundreds of caring youth filling the hat with kindness and this inspires them to think positively. The difference between a hat and a teddy bear or quilt/blanket, which is very nice, is in the elicited response to the item. Whereas with a stuffed animal, game or quilt we react with "Isn't that nice, isn't it cute. However when a patient wear a Glories hat, we react with "You are so cute!" Besides, a happy thought is to think, not to hold!
Why is peer-support important for hospitalized children and for community youth?
Hospitalization can be a frightening experience for children and efforts in pediatric nursing have been directed towards helping children and parents cope emotionally. The emotional health of children during hospitalization may directly influence the healing process, length of stay, hospital costs and patient outcomes. Moreover, recent research shows "that patients with higher perceived support from classmates were less depressed, less anxious, had higher self-esteem, and fewer externalizing behaviors than patients with lower perceived support from classmates. Perceived support from parents, teachers, and friends were not as strongly related to outcomes. (Lalita K. Suzuki, Ph.D., Pamela M. Kato, Ed.M., Ph.D. (2003) Psychosocial Support for Patients in Pediatric Oncology: The Influences of Parents, Schools, Peers, and Technology. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 20(4), 159-174.)
In addition, the research of Carl C. Bell, MD, University of Illinois School of Medicine shows that regular, consistent service opportunities can influence brain development in that youth living in restricted resource areas with high levels of on-going violence can actually suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder to the degree that actual brain size and development is affected. Dr. Bell's research points to the importance of altruistic (Service) actions as building blocks to resiliency through social connectedness, self-esteem and feeling valued by the community. (Carl Bell, MD, ( 2001) Cultivating Resiliency In Youth, Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol 29, No5, pp 375-81 by The Society for Adolescent Medicine.)
