Patient Media and Broadcasting Program
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Patient Media and Broadcasting Program

What are patient media and broadcasting services?

The Patient Media and Broadcasting Program is a part of the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department. These services include multimedia and broadcasting services and one-on-one productions of patient-directed projects. Patients and families can use state-of-the-art multimedia equipment to make their own creations to keep, and even share on CHOP’s interactive 24/7 patient TV network which broadcast through Seacrest Studios – CHOP’s multimedia production studio. With these services, patients can explore the creative realms of Radio, Television and New Media, that will help aid in the healing process during their hospital stay. The program provides a variety of live interactive content produced by program staff to the patients whether they are physically in studio or watching at bedside. The Patient Media and Broadcasting Program has continued to serve as an entertaining and therapeutic distraction for patients and families while engaging them in media arts therapy interventions.

  • Patient Media Program

    Matt Piontkowski: Patient media programs is a part of the Child Life Department here at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and we are responsible for working with the patients and families to kind of normalize the patient experience here. We do that through a variety of different ways: programming in the studio, special events both in our main spaces as well as up on the unit.

    Andrea Dillard: Our Patient Media Program produces over 25 hours of live television content weekly. That content consists of different types of game shows, a televised radio show, a morning news program, private karaoke for our patients and families to come down and enjoy singing and dancing.

    Eric Newby: Seacrest Studios is our internal and centralized radio station. That was provided to us by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. It is our base of operations to put on all sorts of different shows, house all sorts of new pieces of technology and equipment, and really be this fun, safe place for patients to come down or to call down and interact with us.

    Dee Rodriguez: Galaxy 51 is CHOP’s internal television network. We are able to broadcast to over 500 television screens throughout the entire hospital. Patients and families are able to interact with us through Galaxy 51 by just calling down to 55555. They can hear themselves on air and they can also see themselves on TV if they join us here in our studio. Our patient media mobile carts provide patients upstairs in their units with an opportunity to do different type of gaming, whether it’s virtual reality where they get to play some stuff in different type of virtual sets. They can also be a DJ as we have DJing equipment on our cart, so they can kind of mix their own songs.

    Eric Newby: All of our events are amazing, but some of the best ones are our movie nights where we get the latest movies while they’re in theatres and we can bring those movies to CHOP and to the patients in the form of movie night.

    Matt Piontkowski: My favorite event at CHOP, it’s called “CHOP Idol.” “CHOP Idol” is a talent show that is dedicated to our patients in which they can submit a short, talent video of any kind and then they get to actually perform it live on the show day.

    Dee Rodriguez: So, our Child Life Department is really lucky to receive a ton of generous donations. We get a lot of monetary and non-monetary donations. We’re really lucky to get them because they directly benefit our patients here at CHOP, whether they’re outpatient or inpatient and it also directly benefits the families as well.

    Eric Newby: Working at CHOP is seriously one of the most rewarding things that I’ve ever done in my life.

    Dee Rodriguez: This team and the Child Life Department in general is really focused and dedicated on making the hospital experience as normal and as fun as possible for the patients and the families.

    Andrea Dillard: One of the best aspects of my job is the impact that we make on children and the impact that they make on us. The moment that kids step into our studio, we do not discuss anything medically, so they’re able to just be kids.

    Eric Newby: The Patient Media Programs is this awesome chance for so many patients to experience something fun, creative, or at least have control over something in their lives.

    Matt Piontkowski: Some of these families are going through what might be the hardest times in their lives and our job is to just make that experience a little bit better. Our team really coincides with the mission of the Child Life Department of helping a family heal and cope through their journey, but the media team really wants to create memories that these patients will never forget.
Transcript Transcript

What is Galaxy 51?

galaxy 51 logo

Galaxy 51 is the patient television network found on channel 51 of any CHOP television. Patients and families can participate in LIVE shows from the Hospital bedside by dialing 5-5555 on any CHOP phone or by visiting Seacrest Studios — a multimedia studio located in the Main Hospital’s Colket Atrium. Galaxy 51 and Seacrest Studios are part of Child Life’s Media Programs.

Galaxy 51 programs and initiatives aim to be:

  • Therapeutic: Provide opportunities for children to express themselves and supports children’s coping with the healthcare experience.
  • Educational: Provide opportunities for children to learn about the Hospital environment as well as other topics.
  • Interactive: Give children the chance to become involved in various aspects of production and programming, whether or not they are able to leave their beds/rooms.
  • Entertaining: Offer programs that serve as an enjoyable distraction from the routine aspects of hospitalization.

Visiting Seacrest Studios

Seacrest Studios is for everyone*. The studio typically opens weekdays at 11 a.m. and closes at the end of live shows each day. When a crew member is in the studio, you can walk right in and learn about the equipment, help host a show, get on a mic or just enjoy watching! Some Live productions include:

  • Karaoke Studio!
    • Patients can record their own music video live in studio!
  • The Countdown!
    • A Televised radio broadcast which includes trivia, song request, and patients can be a ‘Radio DJ” in-studio or at Bedside!
  • Bingo Blast!
    • CHOP’s most popular interactive Game show! Patients play at bedside and play along to win prizes!

*Please note that per Hospital infection control policy, patients on precautions and their family members and visitors will be restricted from entering the studio.

Patient therapeutic projects

The Patient Media Programs team works very closely with Child Life staff in identifying patients and families who would benefit from additional one-on-one engagement as we offer professional multimedia services for patient-directed projects. These projects offer a means of therapeutic self-expression and distraction to cope with what can be very traumatic and, many times, long and isolated hospital stays.  These have included such projects as: Video, Audio and Photography projects, original show creation based on patient imagination, adaptive show hosting, short films, documentaries and more!

Donations

Throughout the year, our Patient Media and Broadcasting team distributes toy “prizes” and activities to patients as they participate in our interactive programming during their hospital stay. To support our daily patient prize giveaways please purchase items from our Patient Prize Wish List.

Internship program

The Media Programs Division of CHOP’s Child Life Department accepts applications throughout the year for its internship training program for college students. Interns participate in the production of live original shows for the Galaxy 51 network, are members of the Seacrest Studios crew, and assist in the filming of various assigned pre-produced video projects.

Learn more about the Patient Media Programs internship training.

To learn about other internship opportunities offered by Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy, please visit our Professional Education Opportunities page.

Interested in volunteering?

If you are interested in assisting patients and families in participating with Galaxy 51 programs, but are not interested in or able to meet the requirements of the internship program, you may want to consider volunteering.