music on a mission
By Dr. Ben Meisel, Camp Doc/Guest Contributor
How do you build play into health? I've experienced one amazing solution: patient-empowering music!
During 19 years as a pediatrician and enthusiastic SeriousFun Camp staff member, I know how powerful play and music can be. My new CD, A Perfect Day, contains songs I wrote that capture the deep connections and raucously fun spirit of SeriousFun summer camp. Music has the ability to transport us and reframe our perceptions. For example, hearing music can help kids access the memories of connection with friends, nature, and camp's wonderfully supportive environment.
As a child at heart, I always knew I wanted to work with children. When my nephew, Matthew, was born with Down Syndrome and Autism, I was inspired to seek opportunities to work with kids who had special health needs. In 1995, while earning my bachelor's degree, I was running a camp for kids with special health needs and met some wonderfully outrageous people in love with a place called The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. I have been volunteering, working or thinking about CAMP ever since!
I have always practiced music and medicine together, and camp has been an especially powerful source of inspiration. A Perfect Day contains music that reflects the "respect, safety and love" that makes the experience of SeriousFun so life-changing. It also contains favorite camp songs like "Sardines," "Ain't That Funky Now," "Coming Out Of My Shell" and "The Aardvark Song" - tunes that I have played all these years and wanted to share with the world.
Years of camp experiences have changed how I practice medicine. "Building Play Into Health" has become my motto as a Pediatrician. In my office, I focus on addressing the children first. Bringing in elements from camp helps me create a playful and child-empowered environment. Children who are seriously ill often have very little choice about their circumstances. Helping them find ways to be "in charge" by using their own imaginations to shape experiences gives them tools that can help them live and feel better, even in difficult circumstances.
This is why I believe so strongly in the value of Child Life Specialists, professionals who focus on patients and their families' needs, beyond medical treatment. These "undersung" heroes help children by being playful, generous and creative when confronting otherwise seemingly impossible challenges. A Perfect Day is a first step toward my mission of educating more healthcare providers about the practice of Child Life and the critical role it plays for pediatric patients.
Music, especially when infused with the spirit of camp, can help us live well, no matter what comes. You can bring some of that spirit home by purchasing the 15-song collection. A Perfect Day is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, CD Baby... just about everywhere! On all of these sites, simply search for Dr. Ben & Company. For a copy of the music that includes Liner Notes containing Child Life and therapeutic suggestions, go to the store on our website: www.DrBenAndCo.com.
So, for the sake of joyful, fun, camp chaos... crank up the speakers, put on "Ain't That Funky Now," and SHAKE THAT BUSHY TAIL!!!!