GLORIES-HAPPY HATS

The mission of Glories Happy HATS, Inc., a 501 (c) 3 organization, is to bring the healing power of peer support to children isolated by hospitalization while delivering a thoughtful and positive youth development learning activity to adolescents and young adults living in underserved communities. GHP® is a social innovation that engages adolescents in providing peer support to hospitalized children, increasing their capacity for compassion, teamwork, and leadership while lessening the feelings of fear and isolation that hospitalization brings to sick children. Glories HATS Project® (GHP) is an experiential learning initiative linking vulnerable adolescents and young adults to issues pertaining to health. GHP operational activity is based on reciprocal social trust and respect to improve adolescent health outcomes. By identifying adolescent incidence clusters in populations of vulnerable youth (ages 13 to 21), GHP organizes program sites, engages them with a HATS Headquarters® Innovation Lab and video-telecommunication capacity, and connects participants with adolescent health professionals and patient-care teams. Through a series of 25 workshops, participants practice teamwork to create Glories hats “filled with happy thoughts!" for hospitalized children while reflecting on health and health equity. GHP provides a dynamic and positive reciprocal connection as hospital staff thank students for their measurable therapeutic impact on young patients. Concurrently, as participants discover the scale of hospital demand, (How many hats do we have to make? (500 per site) How many hats does the hospital need? (25,000 for the Clinic) Why are so many kids sick?), GHP introduces health researchers to them to introduce the social determinants of health. Adolescents and young adults hold great potential to address these issues at a time when they are choosing their academic and career paths and will create and influence their social and community networks. Children's hospitals, by virtue of their knowledge, dedication, and compassion, can lead these adolescents to a purposeful life path through trust and respect. GHP works with Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) Center for Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine; CNMC Child Life and CNMC's Adolescent Health Unit in programming and patient care teams from Neuroscience Unit and Clinic.