May 19, 2024 • 15 mins
Original Air Date: May 19, 2024
Dr. Laura Blaisdell is the Medical Advisor for SeriousFun Children’s Network, started 35 years ago by the great actors Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward when they opened a camp for seriously ill children. Now there are 30 of these FREE camps & programs around the U.S.
Dr. Laura Blaisdell is the Medical Advisor for SeriousFun Children’s Network, started 35 years ago by the great actors Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward when they opened a camp for seriously ill children. Now there are 30 of these FREE camps & programs around the U.S.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. Thirty five years ago,
Paul Newman founded a camp where kidsliving with serious and life limiting medical
conditions could break away from their everydaychallenges to discover new possibilities and discover a
(00:25):
lot about themselves. And today,Serious Fund Children's Network, Well, it's
the leading network of medical specialty campsin the world, with thirty camps and
programs which have delivered more than onepoint seven million life changing camp experiences to
(00:45):
these kids. And it's free.And joining me this morning, doctor Laura
Blaisdell. She is the medical Advisorof Serious Fund Children's Network. What an
awesome job you have, doctor Laura. I pinch myself every morning. It's
a lovely job to have. Sotell me exactly what your job involves.
(01:10):
I as the medical advisor too.As you mentioned, our thirty camps and
partner programs provide support to our medicalsand our nursing teams as they go about
their jobs of ensuring that kids havea safe experience while they're with us at
Serious Fun Camps. But the safepiece. Oftentimes we try to put ourselves
(01:32):
in the background to make sure thatas a kid is riding a horse or
going down a zip line or doingan art project, that, as you
mentioned, their chronic and serious illnessis set aside for a moment to give
them that sort of classic summer experience, summer camp experience. Let's go back
thirty five years. Why did PaulNewman do this? Was there a personal
(01:57):
connection and I should add his life, Joanne Woodward. Yes, yes,
you know, the origin story ishotly debated, but the vision that Paul
Newman had is not debated. Hehad a vision of a different kind of
camp, a camp for kids whowould not otherwise be able to attend camp,
(02:19):
and that was in nineteen eighty eight, and from that vision it sparked
a global movement. And you mentionedjust reflecting that we provide one hundred and
seventy five thousand camp experiences every year, which have added up to that one
point seven million camp experiences for kidswith serious illness since Paul Newman had this
spark of ingenuity and legacy in nineteeneighty eight, Are we talking about just
(02:46):
physical illnesses? So we know thatin the US, about one in five
US children will have a mental orbehavioral health disorder, and it's even more
so for ldren with chronic medical illnesses. We know that they have even greater
rates of mental health disorders, particularlywith the medical trauma that a lot of
(03:07):
kids have experienced. So this iswhy Serious Fun is delivering these positive experiences
to campers because we know that positivechildhood experiences like camp can change the directory
of both physical and mental well being. And it's free. It is free,
(03:28):
which is amazing, insane, that'sinsane. So many kids. How
do families get hooked up with SeriousFun Children's network? How would they know
to apply for space for their kid? And do you have a waiting list?
You must? Some camps do havewaiting lists, but our ability to
(03:51):
serve campers is incredible. So inthe New York area we have double H
camp in all outside of Albany,we have Hole in the Wall in Kinectic.
And if other folks are listening andthey want to find out if they
have a camp or a program intheir area, I invite people to attend
to go to seriousfund dot org andfind out where the program is closest to
(04:12):
them. Although many of our programsserve people from across the country or internationally.
Do you look for volunteers? Yes, I mean our camps are supported
with you know, thousands and thousandsof volunteers each summer and so again.
If someone's interested in having their lifechanged through helping these life changing experiences happen
(04:36):
again, I encourage people to goto serious fund dot org and volunteer or
consider generously giving to the Serious FunChildren's Network. How like, what sort
of people are you looking for interms of volunteers, what sort of expertise
should they have? Well, certainlyin my area of expertise, we a
(05:00):
are looking for volunteers in terms ofcamp nurses or camp doctors, but also
people who have experienced in childlife orsimply just people who are interested in being
involved in the camp world or thecamp experience. If you can make a
lanyard, if you can make acutout picture, we encourage you to go
(05:21):
to serious fund dot org. Andthe desire to be involved in these camps
and programs is kind of the paramountof being part of these experiences. How
long are the programs, how longa period does the child go to the
camp? And what are the ages. Yeah, typically our campers are in
(05:43):
the eight to fifteen range in termsof age. We have these parent and
family weekends oftentimes in the summer andin the fall, and then during the
summer. Our typical camp programs runabout five days, and they had their
multiple five day programs throughout the summer. I am speaking with doctor Laura Blaisdell,
medical advisor of the Serious Fund Children'sNetwork. I think most people in
(06:09):
our area are very familiar with Polein the Wall the camp, but it
was Paul Newman who set up thesecamps. It was more than one camp.
It was thirty five years ago thathe founded a single camp, but
now there are thirty camps and programsthat have delivered more than one point seven
million life changing camp experiences to kidsliving with a wide variety of serious medical
(06:32):
conditions. Do you accept or actuallyfocus on children who are on the spectrum?
You know, each camp has avery important and safe process for determining
whether or not a child is appropriatefor the camp. We do that in
conjunction with parents and the primary caregiversand the specialists involved in a kid's life.
(06:58):
So I would really welcome people tonot write themselves off, but to
go ahead and go to Serious funddot org and find a camp in your
area and give them a call andtalk with their medical directors and their camp
directors about whether or not a SeriousFun experience is right for their child.
Tell us from your own perspective,what you have seen that has really touched
(07:23):
you some of the experiences that thesechildren have had. Oh, Shelly,
I'm sure you have so many stories, Doctor Laura, Yeah, there's I've
just gotten back from visiting our campin outside of LA called the Painted Turtle.
I was attending a family camp forchildren with pulmonary hypertension. This is
(07:45):
a very serious disease that really limitskids' experiences and what they can do.
Oftentimes children need to have infusions daily. Oftentimes they're on oxygen or on respirators.
I was able to sit and witnessthe pure joy of a child on
a zip line. Well, wewere administering oxygen so that child could do
(08:09):
that experience as part of their campexperience at Serious Fun. And alternatively,
to turn my face and look tothe parents who are watching their child just
have an exceedingly joyful experience and havingthe cardiology team, they're also developing a
deeper relationship with the families and thechild. You really cannot quantify the amount
(08:35):
of good that's happening in any oneinteraction and any one child's experience and family
experience at camp. Is this aone time thing per camper or do some
campers return every year? Yeah?Just like non medical specialty camps, we
get a lot of campers who comeback from year to year. We get
(08:56):
a lot of campers who subsequently becomecounselors and sometimes become leaders in our network.
So it is truly a family experienceand not a one time experience for
many people. So how I meanthis just seems so overwhelming to me because
these kids have serious medical conditions.I mean, the thought of them's zipline,
(09:18):
that's that's huge. What other experienceswould they have at the camps?
Yeah, and you know, asyou're reflecting that back to me, it's
as part of the medical team,it is our job to have our hair
turn gray. Well, experience ishappening. But our answer is yes,
(09:39):
yes, we will make this happenif we can do so safely. So
you know, the image in itof itself does not reflect the degree of
consideration adaptive programming. The medical folkshiding behind the blinds, making sure that
the experience is safe for the child. But you know, kids have all
sorts of camp experiences. They canride horses, they can go swimming,
(10:01):
they can go hiking. There arecampfires, there are camp cheers, there
are all of those sorts of classiccamp experiences that Paul Newman envisioned when he
was envisioning a camp experience. Adifferent kind of camp experience, however,
because they're serving kids with serious illnesses, make us through a typical day if
(10:22):
you can, oh, you know, the camp the arc of a camp
experience starts with an incredible entry intocamp. That's balloons and music playing.
Kids are and families get to speakwith the medical staff so that they can
make sure that we understand all ofthe issues and concerns the medications that kids
(10:43):
are on. But very quickly wemove through that process into the sort of
welcoming orientation events of camp. Thoseare singing songs and campfires and silly games.
You know, we move through atypical day of camp through having children
and do choice by challenge, achallenge by choice. They get to choose
(11:03):
what events they and experiences they wouldlike to have, whether that is through
arts and crafts, whether that isthrough drawing, we have adaptive ski programs
that we run in the winter,or whether that is that zip line.
So each child chooses their own adventure, and that sort of is part of
baked into this sort of positive childhoodexperience of developing independence and a locus of
(11:28):
control that many kids who have seriousmedical illnesses lose over the course of their
treatment and have trouble developing as theymove past treatment and into kind of living
their normal life. So, doctorLaura Blaisdell, how did you get involved
as a medical advisor for the SeriousFun Children's Network. Well, I myself
(11:52):
was never a camper, but Imarried into a long family who's run camp
for a summer camp for boys herein Maine for three generations, and so
I was quickly indoctrinated and became veryimpressed with the power of camp in children's
lives and throughout the pandemic. Ialso have a background in pandemic medicine.
(12:16):
I was invited to join the SeriousFund Children's Network as an advisor to help
figure out if the Serious Fund programscould run safely throughout the course of the
pandemic. That turned into this currentrole as a medical advisor, and I
am so honored to be part ofserving this mission in providing these millions of
(12:39):
experiences to children. Did the campstay open during COVID? How did that
all work? You know, manymost residential overnight summer camps during COVID did
not open. Only about twenty percentdid. In the medical specialty camping world,
as you can imagine, there wereadditional considerations that had to be made.
(13:00):
Many camps did take a break duringthat initial twenty twenty season. But
with the advent of the vaccination andthe use of what we call non pharmaceutical
interventions, layered masking, distancing testing, having outdoor experiences, we were able
to continue to provide serious fun experiencesto many campers in terms of either family
(13:26):
weekends or shortened camp experiences in avery safe way. So the mission to
make sure that this access was availableto kids even during a pandemic remained true.
We only have about a minute anda half left. What have we
not touched on, doctor Laura,that you would like our audience to know.
(13:48):
You know, I think we've focuseda lot on children with serious medical
conditions, and I think as apediatrician, they that is part of my
pract but a lot of my practicealso is for just children in the US
who are suffering from this epidemic ofa mental health crisis. So I talk
(14:09):
with a lot of parents about thesort of how to prevent a mental health
crisis or a mental health disorder,and that an ounce of prevention is worth
its weight in gold. I challengefamilies to shore up their sleep hygiene practices,
to make social media and screen timeagreements for the home, to think
(14:33):
about the food choices and physical activitychoices that they're making and increase those.
But ultimately I talk about these positivechildhood events, whether it be camp,
but specifically that a one good friend, a one adult in a child's life
who listens to them can make adifference as a positive childhood event. So
(14:54):
my advice is, if you havechildren in your life, sit down and
ask them, how are you,how is your day, how are you
feeling? And the challenge for meas a mom and many of us as
adults, is to listen, acknowledgethe feelings without responding or minimizing those feelings
in any way, because we knowthat being listened to and heard is another
(15:16):
positive childhood event. Well, actuallyimportant for children and adults. And again,
if you need more information, whetherit's to send your child to the
Serious Fun Children's Network camps or maybeto volunteer or maybe donate seriousfund dot org.
(15:37):
Thank you so much, doctor LauraBlaisdell, and thank you so much
for your good work. You've beenlistening to sunseteen sessions on iHeartRadio, a
production of New York's classic rock Qone O four point three
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein. Thirty five years ago,
Paul Newman founded a camp where kidsliving with serious and life limiting medical
conditions could break away from their everydaychallenges to discover new possibilities and discover a
(00:25):
lot about themselves. And today,Serious Fund Children's Network, Well, it's
the leading network of medical specialty campsin the world, with thirty camps and
programs which have delivered more than onepoint seven million life changing camp experiences to
(00:45):
these kids. And it's free.And joining me this morning, doctor Laura
Blaisdell. She is the medical Advisorof Serious Fund Children's Network. What an
awesome job you have, doctor Laura. I pinch myself every morning. It's
a lovely job to have. Sotell me exactly what your job involves.
(01:10):
I as the medical advisor too.As you mentioned, our thirty camps and
partner programs provide support to our medicalsand our nursing teams as they go about
their jobs of ensuring that kids havea safe experience while they're with us at
Serious Fun Camps. But the safepiece. Oftentimes we try to put ourselves
(01:32):
in the background to make sure thatas a kid is riding a horse or
going down a zip line or doingan art project, that, as you
mentioned, their chronic and serious illnessis set aside for a moment to give
them that sort of classic summer experience, summer camp experience. Let's go back
thirty five years. Why did PaulNewman do this? Was there a personal
(01:57):
connection and I should add his life, Joanne Woodward. Yes, yes,
you know, the origin story ishotly debated, but the vision that Paul
Newman had is not debated. Hehad a vision of a different kind of
camp, a camp for kids whowould not otherwise be able to attend camp,
(02:19):
and that was in nineteen eighty eight, and from that vision it sparked
a global movement. And you mentionedjust reflecting that we provide one hundred and
seventy five thousand camp experiences every year, which have added up to that one
point seven million camp experiences for kidswith serious illness since Paul Newman had this
spark of ingenuity and legacy in nineteeneighty eight, Are we talking about just
(02:46):
physical illnesses? So we know thatin the US, about one in five
US children will have a mental orbehavioral health disorder, and it's even more
so for ldren with chronic medical illnesses. We know that they have even greater
rates of mental health disorders, particularlywith the medical trauma that a lot of
(03:07):
kids have experienced. So this iswhy Serious Fun is delivering these positive experiences
to campers because we know that positivechildhood experiences like camp can change the directory
of both physical and mental well being. And it's free. It is free,
(03:28):
which is amazing, insane, that'sinsane. So many kids. How
do families get hooked up with SeriousFun Children's network? How would they know
to apply for space for their kid? And do you have a waiting list?
You must? Some camps do havewaiting lists, but our ability to
(03:51):
serve campers is incredible. So inthe New York area we have double H
camp in all outside of Albany,we have Hole in the Wall in Kinectic.
And if other folks are listening andthey want to find out if they
have a camp or a program intheir area, I invite people to attend
to go to seriousfund dot org andfind out where the program is closest to
(04:12):
them. Although many of our programsserve people from across the country or internationally.
Do you look for volunteers? Yes, I mean our camps are supported
with you know, thousands and thousandsof volunteers each summer and so again.
If someone's interested in having their lifechanged through helping these life changing experiences happen
(04:36):
again, I encourage people to goto serious fund dot org and volunteer or
consider generously giving to the Serious FunChildren's Network. How like, what sort
of people are you looking for interms of volunteers, what sort of expertise
should they have? Well, certainlyin my area of expertise, we a
(05:00):
are looking for volunteers in terms ofcamp nurses or camp doctors, but also
people who have experienced in childlife orsimply just people who are interested in being
involved in the camp world or thecamp experience. If you can make a
lanyard, if you can make acutout picture, we encourage you to go
(05:21):
to serious fund dot org. Andthe desire to be involved in these camps
and programs is kind of the paramountof being part of these experiences. How
long are the programs, how longa period does the child go to the
camp? And what are the ages. Yeah, typically our campers are in
(05:43):
the eight to fifteen range in termsof age. We have these parent and
family weekends oftentimes in the summer andin the fall, and then during the
summer. Our typical camp programs runabout five days, and they had their
multiple five day programs throughout the summer. I am speaking with doctor Laura Blaisdell,
medical advisor of the Serious Fund Children'sNetwork. I think most people in
(06:09):
our area are very familiar with Polein the Wall the camp, but it
was Paul Newman who set up thesecamps. It was more than one camp.
It was thirty five years ago thathe founded a single camp, but
now there are thirty camps and programsthat have delivered more than one point seven
million life changing camp experiences to kidsliving with a wide variety of serious medical
(06:32):
conditions. Do you accept or actuallyfocus on children who are on the spectrum?
You know, each camp has avery important and safe process for determining
whether or not a child is appropriatefor the camp. We do that in
conjunction with parents and the primary caregiversand the specialists involved in a kid's life.
(06:58):
So I would really welcome people tonot write themselves off, but to
go ahead and go to Serious funddot org and find a camp in your
area and give them a call andtalk with their medical directors and their camp
directors about whether or not a SeriousFun experience is right for their child.
Tell us from your own perspective,what you have seen that has really touched
(07:23):
you some of the experiences that thesechildren have had. Oh, Shelly,
I'm sure you have so many stories, Doctor Laura, Yeah, there's I've
just gotten back from visiting our campin outside of LA called the Painted Turtle.
I was attending a family camp forchildren with pulmonary hypertension. This is
(07:45):
a very serious disease that really limitskids' experiences and what they can do.
Oftentimes children need to have infusions daily. Oftentimes they're on oxygen or on respirators.
I was able to sit and witnessthe pure joy of a child on
a zip line. Well, wewere administering oxygen so that child could do
(08:09):
that experience as part of their campexperience at Serious Fun. And alternatively,
to turn my face and look tothe parents who are watching their child just
have an exceedingly joyful experience and havingthe cardiology team, they're also developing a
deeper relationship with the families and thechild. You really cannot quantify the amount
(08:35):
of good that's happening in any oneinteraction and any one child's experience and family
experience at camp. Is this aone time thing per camper or do some
campers return every year? Yeah?Just like non medical specialty camps, we
get a lot of campers who comeback from year to year. We get
(08:56):
a lot of campers who subsequently becomecounselors and sometimes become leaders in our network.
So it is truly a family experienceand not a one time experience for
many people. So how I meanthis just seems so overwhelming to me because
these kids have serious medical conditions.I mean, the thought of them's zipline,
(09:18):
that's that's huge. What other experienceswould they have at the camps?
Yeah, and you know, asyou're reflecting that back to me, it's
as part of the medical team,it is our job to have our hair
turn gray. Well, experience ishappening. But our answer is yes,
(09:39):
yes, we will make this happenif we can do so safely. So
you know, the image in itof itself does not reflect the degree of
consideration adaptive programming. The medical folkshiding behind the blinds, making sure that
the experience is safe for the child. But you know, kids have all
sorts of camp experiences. They canride horses, they can go swimming,
(10:01):
they can go hiking. There arecampfires, there are camp cheers, there
are all of those sorts of classiccamp experiences that Paul Newman envisioned when he
was envisioning a camp experience. Adifferent kind of camp experience, however,
because they're serving kids with serious illnesses, make us through a typical day if
(10:22):
you can, oh, you know, the camp the arc of a camp
experience starts with an incredible entry intocamp. That's balloons and music playing.
Kids are and families get to speakwith the medical staff so that they can
make sure that we understand all ofthe issues and concerns the medications that kids
(10:43):
are on. But very quickly wemove through that process into the sort of
welcoming orientation events of camp. Thoseare singing songs and campfires and silly games.
You know, we move through atypical day of camp through having children
and do choice by challenge, achallenge by choice. They get to choose
(11:03):
what events they and experiences they wouldlike to have, whether that is through
arts and crafts, whether that isthrough drawing, we have adaptive ski programs
that we run in the winter,or whether that is that zip line.
So each child chooses their own adventure, and that sort of is part of
baked into this sort of positive childhoodexperience of developing independence and a locus of
(11:28):
control that many kids who have seriousmedical illnesses lose over the course of their
treatment and have trouble developing as theymove past treatment and into kind of living
their normal life. So, doctorLaura Blaisdell, how did you get involved
as a medical advisor for the SeriousFun Children's Network. Well, I myself
(11:52):
was never a camper, but Imarried into a long family who's run camp
for a summer camp for boys herein Maine for three generations, and so
I was quickly indoctrinated and became veryimpressed with the power of camp in children's
lives and throughout the pandemic. Ialso have a background in pandemic medicine.
(12:16):
I was invited to join the SeriousFund Children's Network as an advisor to help
figure out if the Serious Fund programscould run safely throughout the course of the
pandemic. That turned into this currentrole as a medical advisor, and I
am so honored to be part ofserving this mission in providing these millions of
(12:39):
experiences to children. Did the campstay open during COVID? How did that
all work? You know, manymost residential overnight summer camps during COVID did
not open. Only about twenty percentdid. In the medical specialty camping world,
as you can imagine, there wereadditional considerations that had to be made.
(13:00):
Many camps did take a break duringthat initial twenty twenty season. But
with the advent of the vaccination andthe use of what we call non pharmaceutical
interventions, layered masking, distancing testing, having outdoor experiences, we were able
to continue to provide serious fun experiencesto many campers in terms of either family
(13:26):
weekends or shortened camp experiences in avery safe way. So the mission to
make sure that this access was availableto kids even during a pandemic remained true.
We only have about a minute anda half left. What have we
not touched on, doctor Laura,that you would like our audience to know.
(13:48):
You know, I think we've focuseda lot on children with serious medical
conditions, and I think as apediatrician, they that is part of my
pract but a lot of my practicealso is for just children in the US
who are suffering from this epidemic ofa mental health crisis. So I talk
(14:09):
with a lot of parents about thesort of how to prevent a mental health
crisis or a mental health disorder,and that an ounce of prevention is worth
its weight in gold. I challengefamilies to shore up their sleep hygiene practices,
to make social media and screen timeagreements for the home, to think
(14:33):
about the food choices and physical activitychoices that they're making and increase those.
But ultimately I talk about these positivechildhood events, whether it be camp,
but specifically that a one good friend, a one adult in a child's life
who listens to them can make adifference as a positive childhood event. So
(14:54):
my advice is, if you havechildren in your life, sit down and
ask them, how are you,how is your day, how are you
feeling? And the challenge for meas a mom and many of us as
adults, is to listen, acknowledgethe feelings without responding or minimizing those feelings
in any way, because we knowthat being listened to and heard is another
(15:16):
positive childhood event. Well, actuallyimportant for children and adults. And again,
if you need more information, whetherit's to send your child to the
Serious Fun Children's Network camps or maybeto volunteer or maybe donate seriousfund dot org.
(15:37):
Thank you so much, doctor LauraBlaisdell, and thank you so much
for your good work. You've beenlistening to sunseteen sessions on iHeartRadio, a
production of New York's classic rock Qone O four point three
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