Award: Community Service
Sentara Therapy Centers help children with autism visit Santa without the stress of overstimulation and in a familiar environment.
Team members set up a cardboard hearth, a tree, a special chair for Santa and decorations, according to the nomination. The only things missing are the crowds and noise. Each family gets 10 minutes to talk with Santa and take pictures with him before getting a little gift from his bag.
Sentara Therapy Center Red Mill in Virginia Beach launched the Sensitive Santa event on a Saturday morning in mid-December in 2019. Word of success spread and by 2023, the Red Mill location held its fifth such event garnering 42 families while the Newtown Road site held its fourth and the Chesapeake location in the Great Bridge YMCA held its first. This year, more centers plan to host Sensitive Santa.
Ed Sievers, the dad of a Sentara team member who volunteers with the preschool program at his church, played Santa for the past five years at Red Mill. At the Newtown Road site, the rehab manager’s husband pulls Santa duty. A couple who leads senior classes at the Great Bridge YMCA volunteer as Mr. and Mrs. Claus there.
Over five years, the three Sentara Therapy Center teams estimate they’ve provided 279 Sensitive Santa experiences for children who otherwise might have missed the fun and fantasy.
Becca Straseskie, regional director of Sentara Therapy Services, shared details on the program.
Can you describe how the Sensitive Santa program came to be? The Sensitive Santa program was an idea born out of a team member who had exposure to a similar event during a clinical experience while she was a student. Our team then came together and brainstormed how to create a sensory-friendly environment that allowed children who were sensitive to overstimulation an opportunity to experience the magic of a visit to Santa Claus. It was a group effort from the beginning and has evolved each year as we have continued to learn and grow from each event as well as bring in new team members who offer new ideas to continue to make the experience magical. In the last few years, we have expanded this program to other Sentara Therapy Centers as well as increased our participating family numbers and offered easier ways for families to sign up for various time slots. We have been able to offer professional level photos for families at no cost.
What are its keys to success? The No. 1 key to success is the teamwork of everyone who volunteers their time for and supports this event. From planning crafts to organizing snacks to creating the registration list and playing Santa, it has truly taken a team effort to create this special environment for the children. Another important key to success has been the ability to provide a unique experience for each participant and use our clinical skills to be able to meet the child where they are while getting to meet Santa in a familiar environment with familiar people. Additional keys to success are: providing high-quality photos with Santa for family keepsakes for years to come, giving each child a sensory toy souvenir, allowing each child to approach Santa as they feel comfortable and Santa’s flexibility to adjust to each child’s sensory needs/comfort level (following the child to other areas of the gym or engaging in shared play with sensory toys).
Why is outreach/community service like this important in health care? Health care is about so much more than just the reason for which you might be treating a patient. It is truly about looking at the holistic needs of the patient and their family and then creating programs to meet these needs so that the patient/family can thrive and not just survive. We want to show how much we care about our patients and this community by doing everything we can to meet their needs from a variety of angles. For sensory sensitive and neurodiverse families, this program allows for memories to be created that they may not have had the opportunity to create before.
What lessons has the team learned in launching a program? There are so many things in life that neurotypical families and people take for granted that can be challenging for neurodiverse families. The more events we can offer with a sensory-friendly approach, the more lives we can touch and allow families to create memories together.
Any advice for those pursuing health care? Health care is a wonderful field! It is hard work, but truly rewarding. Smiles like we see during our Sensitive Santa program remind us of why we pursued this field and propel us to continue to create programs like this in the future.
