PediaCast 167 * Social Media
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Topics
- Social Media
- Potty Chairs
Guest
- Kelli Nowinsky
Social Media "Guru"
Nationwide Children's
Links
Transcript
Announcer 1: This is PediaCast.
[Music]
Announcer 2: Welcome to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for parents. And now, direct from the campus of Nationwide Children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike!
Dr. Mike Patrick: Hello everyone and welcome once again to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for moms and dads. It is Thursday, June 30th 2011, and we’re calling this one Social Media Opportunities at Nationwide Children’s.
01:01
Now I know it doesn’t sound like much of a pediatric topic in terms of science and medicine, but I think it’s an important one. So we’ve asked Kelli, our social media guru here at Nationwide Children’s, to stop by the studio so that we can talk about social media and what it means in the world of paediatrics, how parents can get involved, what kind of information you can find out, what’s good, what’s not good. You know, really the lowdown, basically.
So that’s coming up. Also I want to remind you that we’re having a lot of interview shows here. We just had Dr. Sarah O’Brien on earlier this week and next week we have a couple of interviews lined up. Dr. Kati Koranyi is going to stop by and talk about hand, foot, mouth disease. And then, Dr. Shawn Aylward is going to stop by and we’re going to talk about Pseudotumor Cerebri.
So some interesting things, but I wanted you all to know that we haven’t forgotten about news and listener questions. So, if there is a question that you have or a topic you’d like us to discuss on PediaCast, it is easy to get a hold of us. Just go to pediacast.org and you can click on the contact link. You can also email pediacast@gmail.com or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. That’s 347-404-5437.
02:15
And of course, the information presented in every episode of PediaCast is for general educational purposes only. We do not diagnose medical conditions or formulate treatment plans for specific individuals. So, if you have a concern about your child’s health make sure you call your doctor and arrange a face-to-face interview and hands on physical examination.
Also, your use of this program is subject to the PediaCast of use agreement, which you can find over at pediacast.org. And without further ado, I’d like to welcome Miss Kelli to the PediaCast studio. How are you doing today?
Kelli Nowinsky: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh, absolutely. Are you feeling OK?
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes, I’m good.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Good. For full disclosure, we attempted to do this interview last week and Kelli was a little under the weather and had some coughing fits, but we’re good now, right?
03:00
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes, feeling great.
Dr. Mike Patrick: But if you do have to cough, it’s OK. Everyone will understand. So, Kelli is our social media… I like to say guru, I know you don’t like that title necessarily. But basically, oversees the hospital’s efforts at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all of our social media channels. So my first question for you is how does one become an expert on social media?
Kelli Nowinsky: Again, I don’t like the expert title, but I’d like to say I’m an educator. So, my background is public relations and news. I’ve been doing social media for the past few years before I came here to Nationwide Children’s. So, it’s really actually about learning. Learning everything you can.
I went to every seminar and workshop I could, plus it was part of my job description, so you have to learn it. But education, education for yourself and having a company that supports that, Nationwide Children’s that sets that here too.
04:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s fantastic. And prior to you coming here I know that you worked at another place once upon a time here in the Columbus area called COSI – the Center of Science and Industry.
Kelli Nowinsky: Love COSI.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And not to give them a free plug or anything, but it is a great science center for kids and families, and I actually worked there when I was in medical school.
Kelli Nowinsky: Really?
Dr. Mike Patrick: I did. I did camping program. So they had girl scouts that would come in, spend the night at COSI. I ran rat basketball usually for those.
Kelli Nowinsky: Rat basketball’s very famous. Well, I mean I think that’s why COSI exists, so that kids can come in and learn and get excited about science.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, exactly.
Kelli Nowinsky: And perhaps choose, we want them to choose careers like yours and one day become a doctor.
Dr. Mike Patrick: You know, I went by doc because actually on my name tag it was doc. That’s a full time in my life. That’s back in the day.
Kelli Nowinsky: I like it.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I did summer workshops too. They’d have something on a topic. Good times. All right, so enough reminiscing. Social media at Nationwide Children’s, we really… I guess a good first question is, in general, what role do you think that children’s hospitals, in general, play in the world of social media?
05:10
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, it’s a really important one. In fact, a study just came out today that I was reading, I’m fascinated by this, that 57% percent of consumers will actually choose a hospital based on their social media connections.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s amazing.
Kelli Nowinsky: It is amazing. I don’t know how many people out there that applies to, but that just tells you right there you have to be in the game. Secondly, the online health consumer, the health consumer in general is very savvy. As you know, if you receive a diagnosis or something’s wrong, what’s the first thing you do? You go online and look. And all the studies out there support that 80% of people go online looking for healthcare information.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Wow.
Kelli Nowinsky: Sixty-two percent of those use social media to find that information as well. So, it’s important for not only children’s hospitals but hospitals in general. You have to be in the game, you have to be out there providing this content that everyone is looking for. Here at Nationwide Children’s, we want to be the trusted source, so we want to be there when you are looking for information for your child and that ranges from everything. So we’re doing that in many different ways.
06:14
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I think, since at least in the short time that I’ve been here, I’m impressed because Nationwide Children’s really has the same philosophy that I’ve had with PediaCast and that is to provide evidence-based information. We’re not just saying it because it’s what the establishment says it’s the right thing. Let’s actually look at the studies and decide for ourselves what’s the right advice, although we don’t do medical advice here on PediaCast.
Kelli Nowinsky: Right.
Dr. Mike Patrick: But, you know, just what is the latest information?
Kelli Nowinsky: Or on all social media.
Dr. Mike Patrick: What is the latest information that we can give parents that’s based on evidence and not just fears and rumors and myths and those types of things?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think people are always out there looking and, truthfully, on the Internet, as we all know, sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking at. You don’t know if the information is accurate. So to your point, I think it’s really important that our role is to provide that information. I mean, we have an unbelievable research center here.
07:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: Absolutely.
Kelli Nowinsky: We put out some amazing research and want people to know that and these are things that affect your life every day. So, for us here at Nationwide Children’s, we’re focused on family center care and that basically means that we care about the whole family, not just the child.
And to us social media is just an extension of that. It’s just another way that we can provide information, answers to your questions through these methods that people are already on because there’s 750 million on Facebook now. You have to go where the masses are.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s crazy. What’s the population in the United States now, like 300 million?
Kelli Nowinsky: Right?
Dr. Mike Patrick: I mean, that just tells you right there. It is so such a worldwide audience, not just the national US and/or regional audience.
Kelli Nowinsky: It is.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK, so we’ve established the fact that Nationwide Children’s is interested in social media, that we want to be a trusted source, that we’re evidence-based, it’s a good a place even if you’re not in Central Ohio, no matter where you are in the world, it’s a great source for pediatric information. And so, in what venues of social media is the Nationwide Children’s participating to get out that message and provide that information?
08:21
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, of course we’re on Facebook, in Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, we have a Flickr channel. We have a blog and we’ll be adding more blogs so stay tuned. So we’re participating, right now, in all of the… I don’t want to say typical, but social media channels that most people are aware of. And we have big plans to add some different things down the road, but those are the actual channels we’re participating right now. We approach each channel a bit differently.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And PediaCast. We don’t want to forget PediaCast.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh, and a podcast! See? I know, it feels so… And you blog. Or do you?
09:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: Well, the issue for me is time.
Kelli Nowinsky: It’s for most people.
Dr. Mike Patrick: I mean, it is a lot of effort to get this podcast out. And to make sure that they’re trusted source, evidence-based, we research everything to make sure it’s the right information and current and up to date. And so, I would like to do… I mean, I have a place to write and I think as we sort of get settled in here and the schedules move out a little bit, I’m hoping to be able to write some more. But right now, it’s mostly out here.
Kelli Nowinsky: I’m sure people would love to hear what you write.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, I know.
Kelli Nowinsky: Or read what you write.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK, let’s talk about Facebook first. Let’s kind of concentrate there. So what are we doing on Facebook in Nationwide Children’s? If a parent likes our page, what can they expect to find there?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think our Facebook – and I’m not just saying this because I’m biased – I think our Facebook is a truly extraordinary place. It’s a very positive community. For the most part we share a lot of patient stories – inspirational stories that are filled with hope. We also do share some stories that perhaps may not have the best ending. I think, sadly, that’s the reality.
10:08
But for the most part, the community and the things that we share, as far as the patient stories, are very positive and uplifting. We also share the very latest in pediatric news that’s out there. For example, today, the consumer product safety commission, there’s new rules that go into place for cribs.
So we put this out there for reminders for parents. Today, new laws go in effect. For crib, safety is concern. Read a trusted resource, which is Consumer Product Safety Commission, that’s the link that we put out there. So we’ve put out that type, give that as an example, that news you can use. But we really have a lot of discussion, we ask a lot of questions and it’s just a really great positive community.
And people, I think, feel very safe to express their opinion on the page and we allow all comments and we want to hear good and bad. And truthfully, the comments that we’ll remove will be the ones that have any type of foul language in them.
11:13
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right. So if there’s some criticism… Because that’s how a place gets better, is by looking at criticism and taking that into account. So as long as people are decent about it in a public forum where kids may be reading, we’re not going to delete things just because someone has an opinion.
Kelli Nowinsky: Right, absolutely. I mean, you have an opinion. And the only thing I would say for parents, just a good reminder, is that it is Facebook. There’s a lot of people on it, a lot of people in our community. I mean, we’re almost at 60,000 likes on our page. So if you do post a picture of your child and you talk about the child’s condition, just know that that is there for everybody to see. And I like to remind parents of that. Sometimes you forget, but just to know that it’s out there.
12:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: Now, you talked about sharing inspirational stories. And of course, as a healthcare institution we have to be careful that we comply with HIPPA regulations and privacy is very important. So how do we get around that? How can we share these stories and yet respect privacy?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, what we do is actually, we get a lot of submissions to our website, to our miracle supply, which we’ll talk about here later. But you can submit your child’s story, our story along with the photo and sign a consent form and give us consent to use that story. Those are, truthfully, the only stories that we share is the ones that we have full consent from the parent, the guardian.
So that’s one way. And again, if you post your own story on our Facebook page that’s just out there, you’ve elected to post that. We do have a really important disclaimer on our Facebook page. I always encourage everyone to read it. It’s on the left-hand side, it says Disclaimer, about our social media policies and practices. So it’s a good reminder for parents. But we do get full permission from any guardian before we share stories.
13:04
Dr. Mike Patrick: So, it’s kind of akin to the PediaCast Terms of Use Agreement. We just want you to know what’s expected.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Great. And then also, surveys. I noticed we’ve had some surveys here and there, polls that people can participate in. That seems to be a popular item.
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. Those are really popular. And you know, those start when we noticed a discussion happening about the page and people are particularly passionate about a topic and they’re discussing it, then we’ll ask a question to get more participation that way. Yesterday‘s was the fast-food ads. That sparked a lot of interest and I think over 300 people answered that question, and you either have an opinion on that or you don’t. So fast-food ads leading to childhood obesity. So, we do ask a lot of questions and that’s a great way to get the discussion started.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right, exactly. Now, with Facebook, let’s say a parent wanted to get involved. I want to mention that PediaCast has a Facebook page and I really use it mostly to announce the new shows and what topics so that people are seeing that on their status updates. Hey, there’s a new show out, kind of as a reminder.
14:12
And people make comments here and there and I answer, but I really encourage all PediaCast listeners to also like Nationwide Children’s page because there’s a broad community pediatric information that, you know, there’s just so much that we’re not covering everything on PediaCast. We have to kind of pick and choose. So, I do encourage all the listeners out there to like Nationwide Children’s. So, how do parents find that?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, you can go to our website in nationwidechildrens.org and you can find us that way. It is on the homepage, that’s probably the easiest way. And if you’re just in Facebook you can type in Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the search bar, that’s another easy way. I would also say to parents out there that we put a lot of information out, good information about the latest hospital news. And I’m not talking your typical, maybe your press release, but really good information. If it’s sparking, there’s a lot of construction going on with the new hospital so we want you to be aware of those situations. Plus services that we provide that you might not be aware of.
15:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: And actually, I have a lot of people not just in Central Ohio, we get emails and people requesting second opinions. We get stuff from overseas. People who want to use the expertise of the hospital and so one way to get plugged in with that is through Facebook.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then, what about Twitter?
Kelli Nowinsky: You know, Twitter we’re in, I don’t want to say in experimental stage with that, but we are fairly new, the hospital, to Twitter channel. But right now we’re really just focusing on our Twitter channel being that news you can use, that immediate news that you need to be aware of. If it’s our researchers doing something, if that’s consumer pediatric news.
But it is definitely more immediate, easily consumable in the fact that you might not be clicking on perhaps a longer blog post or a video, but it is that immediate, “Did you know that is happening today or tomorrow?” Things that affect your life right away. So that’s how we’re approaching Twitter right now.
16:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: And YouTube?
Kelli Nowinsky: YouTube is really fun. We have been doing some fun things on YouTube. We have been shooting a lot of videos. We have a lot of small cameras. I don’t want to say Flip Cam, that’s a certain brand. But we’re really trying to get out there and cover a lot of fun things on YouTube, and they can be everything from hospital or a doctor interview on a particular subject, a patient story. But we’re really trying to put out a couple of really great videos a week just that people can…
And we’re trying to, I don’t want to say break news on YouTube, but this is a chance for you to get more of an in-depth story. Bass salt, so I use that as a perfect example. Our poison control center is seeing a lot of calls on bass salts, which is a dangerous new street drug.
17:00
We felt that that needed to be expanded upon, and so we did an interview with one of our doctors over there and the feedback we received from the video’s been incredible, and the views that received, and people are extremely interested in this topic. So we’re taking YouTube, we’re looking at it as a little bit more in-depth opportunity to tell stories that we know people are interested in.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s great. And is there a way that people can suggest stories?
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely. You can always just email. Well, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and you can send us a message to those means. That’s probably the number one way to do it. And if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, like I said, one or two videos a week, but that way you can definitely send us a message straight. Or feel free to message us through Facebook and Twitter as well and we’re monitoring all those. But definitely, if you think that there is a story that needs to be told, let us know.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s great. And then, there’s something, I don’t if you would really call this social media or not, but it’s kind of a cool service, I think, that Nationwide Children’s has it that parents may not be aware of. It’s called Health e-Hints. It’s basically an email, kind of an old school.
18:08
Kelli Nowinsky: I know, right?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Email is old school now. It’s an old school email, e-news letter, but tailored toward specific age group. So you basically sign up with your email, let us know what age your kids are and then the monthly newsletters that come out are based on what age your kids are.
Kelli Nowinsky: I love that. And as a parent, I have a 15-month old, I highly encourage people to sign up for it because the email that comes in my inbox, like you said, is tailored towards my son. So, in his age range, 15th month, what should he be doing, his milestones. Everything from eating to sleeping, so it’s a very beneficial piece of information all parents can benefit from.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. And they can find that just at nationwidechildrens.org.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s right, on the front page.
Dr. Mike Patrick: They should be able to sign up for that. And again, you don’t have to be in Central Ohio because it’s just generic pediatric information wherever you are in the world.
19:03
Kelli Nowinsky: Wherever you are in the world.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK. And then blogging, we talked about that a little bit. I guess, we’re really just, I think, at the threshold of greatness with blogging. So we’re not there yet, but we’re working on it. What is your vision?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, my vision would be that we have a blog that many of our fabulous doctors like yourself are able to contribute to. And I think an extension of services we already offer here. But that’s as far as my dream would be a blog like that and we are starting to go down that path.
We have a really good blog now and it’s Our Children’s on Quality blog. I don’t know if many people have read it, but it’s an actual blog and a podcast by Dr. Rick McClead and he is a medical director of quality improvement services here, and he takes an in-depth look at the quality issues affecting pediatric healthcare across the country.
20:01
He speaks more one-on-one with those on the frontline to patient care. So it’s quite interesting but that is our first blog and we do have plans for others, but really my dreams for the blog of Nationwide Children’s will be a blog that depending on where you are, the information is good for you and will have a lot doctors participating.
Dr. Mike Patrick: I think that’s a cool idea because it is tough to have, and there are pediatricians who do it. Seattle Mama Doc is one example. But it is tough when you’re a physician and you’re seeing kids all day long I mean, where in Seattle. It really does. And then, you’ve got your family life.
So it’s tough to commit to being able to write on a weekly basis or more often. So if you had a group of physicians who enjoyed writing and had interesting things to say and you can kind of rotate through, I think that’s a fabulous idea.
21:01
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. I think a blog that encompasses, perhaps one of our researchers, perhaps a doctor from our sports medicine. We do so much here and it’s really important to let people know what we do, but to get take… Again, as soon as you hear something in the mainstream media, you’re out there Googling it and you’re trying to find the information. And it just goes back to us. We have experts here want to be the trusted source.
Especially if you live in Central Ohio, we’re so lucky to have a children’s hospital of this caliber right here in Columbus and across the country. As you said, people do come here for our expertise. So it’s just another way you want the get the word out.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. I can see myself being the sarcastic, cynical voice on such a plug.
Kelli Nowinsky: We need that.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And my listeners all know it’s true. OK, so you did mention Miracles at Play and we’ve talked about this before on PediaCast. What exactly is Miracles at Play?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think that Miracles at Play is an amazing idea, and what it is, is that you join a movement. Miracles at Play is a movement. If you care about the health of children and you want to participate and do something about it, you’ll join Miracles at Play because the idea behind is that at the end of the day, all of the work that we do here, we just want children to be children.
22:18
And your child dealing with perhaps a life threatening illness or an illness. Perhaps you have asthma and that’s going to affect your life. But we want to support the health of all children. We want all children to get healthy. So this movement is something that you would join. It’s very, very simple. Basically, you can join three ways: You can like us on Facebook, you can follow us on Twitter, or you can sign up in miraclesatplay.org.
It’s free, there’s no cost. And here’s the bonus, here’s the important thing: For every person who signs up for a Miracles at Play the movement, and it’s basically, people ask, “What is it?” You’re just saying, “Yes, I support the health of all children. I want Nationwide Children’s to continue to help provide that support so children can just be kids.”
23:08
For every person that signs up, we get a dollar up to $100,000. So, extremely gracious move by Wolfe Associate, and so we’re about 30,000 people away from our goal, so we really encourage everyone to sign up for Miracles at Play because all the money goes here to the hospital to support the children that come here. I just like to remind everybody that this hospital is pretty extraordinary in the fact that we never turn away someone because of their inability to pay.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right. And it also provides parents way to get plugged in to social media here at Nationwide Children’s. Each parent can help contribute $3 to the hospital if they like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and provide their email, which we don’t sell or give away. You won’t get a bunch of spam or junk mail from us. It’s just a way for us to communicate now and then.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely. I always love to tell this story. The idea behind the Miracles at Play is we focus on what we call seven miracle children. They were children who’ve overcome many odds, from a heart transplant to patient suffering from type 1 diabetes, to leukemia.
24:16
So these seven miracle children who’ve overcome obstacles that I personally can’t imagine inspired us to start this campaign. So we’re really excited about it and, again, we just need 30,000 more people to reach our $100,000 goal.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And you can read about their stories as well at miraclesatplay.org. I’ve never really pushed that part of it, actually, that we do have these seven kids and you can read their stories and they’re definitely stories of hope and inspiration.
Kelli Nowinsky: They have amazing stories and you can read the stories, you can submit your own story. This is where you would submit your family story. There’s some wonderful videos on there about the movement and what we’re trying to accomplish, but it’s a really feel good thing. It’ll make you feel good just by clicking.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s great. And in the show notes over at pediacast.org, we’ll have links to the Nationwide Children’s website where you can find all these things and also a link directly to our page on Facebook and our Twitter channel as well. So we’ll have all that in the show notes at pediacast.org.
25:13
Kelli Nowinsky: We just have some, I just encourage people, like you said, to like us and follow us because really, I feel like where on the cause and we’re going to continue to have some great content. Some content that you just need as a parent, a guardian. So we’ll have some really, really exciting things coming up.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Great. Now, one of the things that I ask every guest at the end of the interview right now is we’re really all about families doing stuff together and there’s so much screen stuff that kind of interferes with the bonding within the family, between video games and computers and television. So, one of the things that we like to do at our house is the good old fashion board game. So from your childhood, what’s your favorite board game?
26:01
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh my gosh. Well, probably… You know, I always remember Sorry.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Sorry?
Kelli Nowinsky: Do they still make that?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. I think that’s the one where… See, whenever I hear Sorry, I think of the one where you push the bubble.
Kelli Nowinsky: No, that’s not the bubble.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s not it though, is it? But you have to try to get your tokens around the board and home.
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. I can visualize the little game piece right now. And sorry, of course we played our share of Monopoly too. And then the other game, it’s not a board game, but the Horseshoe is maybe what you call it here. Or not Horseshoe. What is that where you hit the ball through the…
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh yes, croquet.
Kelli Nowinsky: Croquet.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Like the queen of hearts.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s a very big family game. Not a board game, but a family game.
Dr. Mike Patrick: What was one with the bubble?
Kelli Nowinsky: Now that you just said…
Dr. Mike Patrick: And you push it and it makes the dice go.
Kelli Nowinsky: Now I have to know. I know exactly what you’re talking about and now I have to figure it out.
Dr. Mike Patrick: You know, and there’s a thousand people in their cars right now like all shouting out.
27:00
Kelli Nowinsky: I know. What is that game? That bubble made such a sound that you can’t…
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. We’ll figure it out.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh now I have to Google it.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I’m going to have a bunch of email coming in. So in a future show we will be telling what.
Kelli Nowinsky: What is that game?
Dr. Mike Patrick: So, sorry. We had Dr. David Hains stopped by. He’s a nephrologist here at Children’s, his favorite was Risk, which takes forever to play. But my kids love it. They’re always like, “Can we play Risk?” Although they’ll get board about halfway through the game and then it will sit there a day then the cats will jump up and ruin the board. That’s usually what happens at our house.
Kelli Nowinsky: You know, I think it’s really special that you do that because video games… Even my 15-month old son, I mean now, with the iPad, he sees my iPad and he grabs it because they have apps out there for babies and it’s just in the way the world.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And Dr. Sarah O’Brien who was here a couple of days ago, her favorite was Clue.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh, Clue! That’s right. That’s a really good one. That’s a great family game.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then, I wanted to bring something else up, and since you’re here you just have to listen. Sorry.
28:02
Kelli Nowinsky: OK. Thanks.
Dr. Mike Patrick: We’re doing so many interview shows here. I know I couldn’t wait to bring this up with the audience until we were doing a new show. We were out at the store the other day and I realized because I don’t have any kids who obviously are potty training right now and your son is 15 months old, so you’re not quite there yet.
Kelli Nowinsky: No. I don’t want to be there yet.
Dr. Mike Patrick: They’ve got crazy potty chairs out there now. They’ve got these potty chairs that… I mean, it used to be, you know, it was just a potty chair, right? It was just kind of a tool. But now, it’s this whole big thing.
Kelli Nowinsky: Do they talk or something?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh yes. They’ve got, let’s see, Fisher Price has the Cheer for Me Potty and it has a clicking toilet handle and a stick where you put the toilet paper. It has encouraging songs, fun lyrics and phrases, so it’ll say, “Way to go!” and “You did it!” in English and Spanish. So, I don’t know. I mean, maybe I’m a little cynical again, but do we really need elaborate potty chairs. I mean, really.
29:00
Kelli Nowinsky: I just wonder, and again, all the parents out there are like, “She doesn’t know because she hasn’t potty trained,” I just wonder that if you use really techy potty training, like the little baby toilets, are they all of a sudden get on a normal toilet and expect it to talk.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. And it’s like a step backward, like I got to use this really cool thing and now I got to use the big porcelain white, you know. I don’t know.
Kelli Nowinsky: Ask me when do they potty train, you can remind everybody. I have no idea. Two?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Well, some kids already at late two. Most are more with early three-ish, but it depends on the kid.
Kelli Nowinsky: You can ask me again in a year and a half. Thank God. I might have a different potty.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then they have a blue one that was the Royal Stepstool Potty, and a pink one that is the Princess Stepstool Potty and those are different ones that play four royal tunes as a reward.
Kelli Nowinsky: That is so crazy.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, I know, it’s crazy.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s a little crazy.
Dr. Mike Patrick: All right. Well, thank you Kelli for stopping by and we’re going to have you come back in a few months and just sort of give us an update, especially with the blogs as we sort of get rolling on those.
30:01
Kelli Nowinsky: Wish I could talk about the exciting things we have on our eyes, but you all stay tuned.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And next time you come we’ll be able to talk about them as things come up and are available. So thank you very much.
Kelli Nowinsky: Thank you.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And of course, thank you to all of you for tuning in to PediaCast. Once again I want to remind you, if there’s a topic that you like us to discuss, it’s easy to get a hold of us just go to pediacast.org and click on the contact link. You can also email pediacast@gmail.com or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. That’s 347-404-5437.
And until next time, this is Dr. Mike saying stay safe, stay healthy and stay involved with your kids. So long everybody.
[Music]
Announcer 3: This program is a production of Nationwide Children’s. Thanks for listening! We’ll see you next time on PediaCast.
pediacast_167
Announcer 1: This is PediaCast.
[Music]
Announcer 2: Welcome to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for parents. And now, direct from the campus of Nationwide Children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike!
Dr. Mike Patrick: Hello everyone and welcome once again to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for moms and dads. It is Thursday, June 30th 2011, and we’re calling this one Social Media Opportunities at Nationwide Children’s.
01:01
Now I know it doesn’t sound like much of a pediatric topic in terms of science and medicine, but I think it’s an important one. So we’ve asked Kelli, our social media guru here at Nationwide Children’s, to stop by the studio so that we can talk about social media and what it means in the world of paediatrics, how parents can get involved, what kind of information you can find out, what’s good, what’s not good. You know, really the lowdown, basically.
So that’s coming up. Also I want to remind you that we’re having a lot of interview shows here. We just had Dr. Sarah O’Brien on earlier this week and next week we have a couple of interviews lined up. Dr. Kati Koranyi is going to stop by and talk about hand, foot, mouth disease. And then, Dr. Shawn Aylward is going to stop by and we’re going to talk about Pseudotumor Cerebri.
So some interesting things, but I wanted you all to know that we haven’t forgotten about news and listener questions. So, if there is a question that you have or a topic you’d like us to discuss on PediaCast, it is easy to get a hold of us. Just go to pediacast.org and you can click on the contact link. You can also email pediacast@gmail.com or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. That’s 347-404-5437.
02:15
And of course, the information presented in every episode of PediaCast is for general educational purposes only. We do not diagnose medical conditions or formulate treatment plans for specific individuals. So, if you have a concern about your child’s health make sure you call your doctor and arrange a face-to-face interview and hands on physical examination.
Also, your use of this program is subject to the PediaCast of use agreement, which you can find over at pediacast.org. And without further ado, I’d like to welcome Miss Kelli to the PediaCast studio. How are you doing today?
Kelli Nowinsky: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh, absolutely. Are you feeling OK?
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes, I’m good.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Good. For full disclosure, we attempted to do this interview last week and Kelli was a little under the weather and had some coughing fits, but we’re good now, right?
03:00
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes, feeling great.
Dr. Mike Patrick: But if you do have to cough, it’s OK. Everyone will understand. So, Kelli is our social media… I like to say guru, I know you don’t like that title necessarily. But basically, oversees the hospital’s efforts at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all of our social media channels. So my first question for you is how does one become an expert on social media?
Kelli Nowinsky: Again, I don’t like the expert title, but I’d like to say I’m an educator. So, my background is public relations and news. I’ve been doing social media for the past few years before I came here to Nationwide Children’s. So, it’s really actually about learning. Learning everything you can.
I went to every seminar and workshop I could, plus it was part of my job description, so you have to learn it. But education, education for yourself and having a company that supports that, Nationwide Children’s that sets that here too.
04:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s fantastic. And prior to you coming here I know that you worked at another place once upon a time here in the Columbus area called COSI – the Center of Science and Industry.
Kelli Nowinsky: Love COSI.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And not to give them a free plug or anything, but it is a great science center for kids and families, and I actually worked there when I was in medical school.
Kelli Nowinsky: Really?
Dr. Mike Patrick: I did. I did camping program. So they had girl scouts that would come in, spend the night at COSI. I ran rat basketball usually for those.
Kelli Nowinsky: Rat basketball’s very famous. Well, I mean I think that’s why COSI exists, so that kids can come in and learn and get excited about science.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, exactly.
Kelli Nowinsky: And perhaps choose, we want them to choose careers like yours and one day become a doctor.
Dr. Mike Patrick: You know, I went by doc because actually on my name tag it was doc. That’s a full time in my life. That’s back in the day.
Kelli Nowinsky: I like it.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I did summer workshops too. They’d have something on a topic. Good times. All right, so enough reminiscing. Social media at Nationwide Children’s, we really… I guess a good first question is, in general, what role do you think that children’s hospitals, in general, play in the world of social media?
05:10
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, it’s a really important one. In fact, a study just came out today that I was reading, I’m fascinated by this, that 57% percent of consumers will actually choose a hospital based on their social media connections.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s amazing.
Kelli Nowinsky: It is amazing. I don’t know how many people out there that applies to, but that just tells you right there you have to be in the game. Secondly, the online health consumer, the health consumer in general is very savvy. As you know, if you receive a diagnosis or something’s wrong, what’s the first thing you do? You go online and look. And all the studies out there support that 80% of people go online looking for healthcare information.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Wow.
Kelli Nowinsky: Sixty-two percent of those use social media to find that information as well. So, it’s important for not only children’s hospitals but hospitals in general. You have to be in the game, you have to be out there providing this content that everyone is looking for. Here at Nationwide Children’s, we want to be the trusted source, so we want to be there when you are looking for information for your child and that ranges from everything. So we’re doing that in many different ways.
06:14
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I think, since at least in the short time that I’ve been here, I’m impressed because Nationwide Children’s really has the same philosophy that I’ve had with PediaCast and that is to provide evidence-based information. We’re not just saying it because it’s what the establishment says it’s the right thing. Let’s actually look at the studies and decide for ourselves what’s the right advice, although we don’t do medical advice here on PediaCast.
Kelli Nowinsky: Right.
Dr. Mike Patrick: But, you know, just what is the latest information?
Kelli Nowinsky: Or on all social media.
Dr. Mike Patrick: What is the latest information that we can give parents that’s based on evidence and not just fears and rumors and myths and those types of things?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think people are always out there looking and, truthfully, on the Internet, as we all know, sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking at. You don’t know if the information is accurate. So to your point, I think it’s really important that our role is to provide that information. I mean, we have an unbelievable research center here.
07:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: Absolutely.
Kelli Nowinsky: We put out some amazing research and want people to know that and these are things that affect your life every day. So, for us here at Nationwide Children’s, we’re focused on family center care and that basically means that we care about the whole family, not just the child.
And to us social media is just an extension of that. It’s just another way that we can provide information, answers to your questions through these methods that people are already on because there’s 750 million on Facebook now. You have to go where the masses are.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s crazy. What’s the population in the United States now, like 300 million?
Kelli Nowinsky: Right?
Dr. Mike Patrick: I mean, that just tells you right there. It is so such a worldwide audience, not just the national US and/or regional audience.
Kelli Nowinsky: It is.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK, so we’ve established the fact that Nationwide Children’s is interested in social media, that we want to be a trusted source, that we’re evidence-based, it’s a good a place even if you’re not in Central Ohio, no matter where you are in the world, it’s a great source for pediatric information. And so, in what venues of social media is the Nationwide Children’s participating to get out that message and provide that information?
08:21
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, of course we’re on Facebook, in Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, we have a Flickr channel. We have a blog and we’ll be adding more blogs so stay tuned. So we’re participating, right now, in all of the… I don’t want to say typical, but social media channels that most people are aware of. And we have big plans to add some different things down the road, but those are the actual channels we’re participating right now. We approach each channel a bit differently.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And PediaCast. We don’t want to forget PediaCast.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh, and a podcast! See? I know, it feels so… And you blog. Or do you?
09:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: Well, the issue for me is time.
Kelli Nowinsky: It’s for most people.
Dr. Mike Patrick: I mean, it is a lot of effort to get this podcast out. And to make sure that they’re trusted source, evidence-based, we research everything to make sure it’s the right information and current and up to date. And so, I would like to do… I mean, I have a place to write and I think as we sort of get settled in here and the schedules move out a little bit, I’m hoping to be able to write some more. But right now, it’s mostly out here.
Kelli Nowinsky: I’m sure people would love to hear what you write.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, I know.
Kelli Nowinsky: Or read what you write.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK, let’s talk about Facebook first. Let’s kind of concentrate there. So what are we doing on Facebook in Nationwide Children’s? If a parent likes our page, what can they expect to find there?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think our Facebook – and I’m not just saying this because I’m biased – I think our Facebook is a truly extraordinary place. It’s a very positive community. For the most part we share a lot of patient stories – inspirational stories that are filled with hope. We also do share some stories that perhaps may not have the best ending. I think, sadly, that’s the reality.
10:08
But for the most part, the community and the things that we share, as far as the patient stories, are very positive and uplifting. We also share the very latest in pediatric news that’s out there. For example, today, the consumer product safety commission, there’s new rules that go into place for cribs.
So we put this out there for reminders for parents. Today, new laws go in effect. For crib, safety is concern. Read a trusted resource, which is Consumer Product Safety Commission, that’s the link that we put out there. So we’ve put out that type, give that as an example, that news you can use. But we really have a lot of discussion, we ask a lot of questions and it’s just a really great positive community.
And people, I think, feel very safe to express their opinion on the page and we allow all comments and we want to hear good and bad. And truthfully, the comments that we’ll remove will be the ones that have any type of foul language in them.
11:13
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right. So if there’s some criticism… Because that’s how a place gets better, is by looking at criticism and taking that into account. So as long as people are decent about it in a public forum where kids may be reading, we’re not going to delete things just because someone has an opinion.
Kelli Nowinsky: Right, absolutely. I mean, you have an opinion. And the only thing I would say for parents, just a good reminder, is that it is Facebook. There’s a lot of people on it, a lot of people in our community. I mean, we’re almost at 60,000 likes on our page. So if you do post a picture of your child and you talk about the child’s condition, just know that that is there for everybody to see. And I like to remind parents of that. Sometimes you forget, but just to know that it’s out there.
12:00
Dr. Mike Patrick: Now, you talked about sharing inspirational stories. And of course, as a healthcare institution we have to be careful that we comply with HIPPA regulations and privacy is very important. So how do we get around that? How can we share these stories and yet respect privacy?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, what we do is actually, we get a lot of submissions to our website, to our miracle supply, which we’ll talk about here later. But you can submit your child’s story, our story along with the photo and sign a consent form and give us consent to use that story. Those are, truthfully, the only stories that we share is the ones that we have full consent from the parent, the guardian.
So that’s one way. And again, if you post your own story on our Facebook page that’s just out there, you’ve elected to post that. We do have a really important disclaimer on our Facebook page. I always encourage everyone to read it. It’s on the left-hand side, it says Disclaimer, about our social media policies and practices. So it’s a good reminder for parents. But we do get full permission from any guardian before we share stories.
13:04
Dr. Mike Patrick: So, it’s kind of akin to the PediaCast Terms of Use Agreement. We just want you to know what’s expected.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Great. And then also, surveys. I noticed we’ve had some surveys here and there, polls that people can participate in. That seems to be a popular item.
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. Those are really popular. And you know, those start when we noticed a discussion happening about the page and people are particularly passionate about a topic and they’re discussing it, then we’ll ask a question to get more participation that way. Yesterday‘s was the fast-food ads. That sparked a lot of interest and I think over 300 people answered that question, and you either have an opinion on that or you don’t. So fast-food ads leading to childhood obesity. So, we do ask a lot of questions and that’s a great way to get the discussion started.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right, exactly. Now, with Facebook, let’s say a parent wanted to get involved. I want to mention that PediaCast has a Facebook page and I really use it mostly to announce the new shows and what topics so that people are seeing that on their status updates. Hey, there’s a new show out, kind of as a reminder.
14:12
And people make comments here and there and I answer, but I really encourage all PediaCast listeners to also like Nationwide Children’s page because there’s a broad community pediatric information that, you know, there’s just so much that we’re not covering everything on PediaCast. We have to kind of pick and choose. So, I do encourage all the listeners out there to like Nationwide Children’s. So, how do parents find that?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, you can go to our website in nationwidechildrens.org and you can find us that way. It is on the homepage, that’s probably the easiest way. And if you’re just in Facebook you can type in Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the search bar, that’s another easy way. I would also say to parents out there that we put a lot of information out, good information about the latest hospital news. And I’m not talking your typical, maybe your press release, but really good information. If it’s sparking, there’s a lot of construction going on with the new hospital so we want you to be aware of those situations. Plus services that we provide that you might not be aware of.
15:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: And actually, I have a lot of people not just in Central Ohio, we get emails and people requesting second opinions. We get stuff from overseas. People who want to use the expertise of the hospital and so one way to get plugged in with that is through Facebook.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then, what about Twitter?
Kelli Nowinsky: You know, Twitter we’re in, I don’t want to say in experimental stage with that, but we are fairly new, the hospital, to Twitter channel. But right now we’re really just focusing on our Twitter channel being that news you can use, that immediate news that you need to be aware of. If it’s our researchers doing something, if that’s consumer pediatric news.
But it is definitely more immediate, easily consumable in the fact that you might not be clicking on perhaps a longer blog post or a video, but it is that immediate, “Did you know that is happening today or tomorrow?” Things that affect your life right away. So that’s how we’re approaching Twitter right now.
16:09
Dr. Mike Patrick: And YouTube?
Kelli Nowinsky: YouTube is really fun. We have been doing some fun things on YouTube. We have been shooting a lot of videos. We have a lot of small cameras. I don’t want to say Flip Cam, that’s a certain brand. But we’re really trying to get out there and cover a lot of fun things on YouTube, and they can be everything from hospital or a doctor interview on a particular subject, a patient story. But we’re really trying to put out a couple of really great videos a week just that people can…
And we’re trying to, I don’t want to say break news on YouTube, but this is a chance for you to get more of an in-depth story. Bass salt, so I use that as a perfect example. Our poison control center is seeing a lot of calls on bass salts, which is a dangerous new street drug.
17:00
We felt that that needed to be expanded upon, and so we did an interview with one of our doctors over there and the feedback we received from the video’s been incredible, and the views that received, and people are extremely interested in this topic. So we’re taking YouTube, we’re looking at it as a little bit more in-depth opportunity to tell stories that we know people are interested in.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s great. And is there a way that people can suggest stories?
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely. You can always just email. Well, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and you can send us a message to those means. That’s probably the number one way to do it. And if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, like I said, one or two videos a week, but that way you can definitely send us a message straight. Or feel free to message us through Facebook and Twitter as well and we’re monitoring all those. But definitely, if you think that there is a story that needs to be told, let us know.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s great. And then, there’s something, I don’t if you would really call this social media or not, but it’s kind of a cool service, I think, that Nationwide Children’s has it that parents may not be aware of. It’s called Health e-Hints. It’s basically an email, kind of an old school.
18:08
Kelli Nowinsky: I know, right?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Email is old school now. It’s an old school email, e-news letter, but tailored toward specific age group. So you basically sign up with your email, let us know what age your kids are and then the monthly newsletters that come out are based on what age your kids are.
Kelli Nowinsky: I love that. And as a parent, I have a 15-month old, I highly encourage people to sign up for it because the email that comes in my inbox, like you said, is tailored towards my son. So, in his age range, 15th month, what should he be doing, his milestones. Everything from eating to sleeping, so it’s a very beneficial piece of information all parents can benefit from.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. And they can find that just at nationwidechildrens.org.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s right, on the front page.
Dr. Mike Patrick: They should be able to sign up for that. And again, you don’t have to be in Central Ohio because it’s just generic pediatric information wherever you are in the world.
19:03
Kelli Nowinsky: Wherever you are in the world.
Dr. Mike Patrick: OK. And then blogging, we talked about that a little bit. I guess, we’re really just, I think, at the threshold of greatness with blogging. So we’re not there yet, but we’re working on it. What is your vision?
Kelli Nowinsky: Well, my vision would be that we have a blog that many of our fabulous doctors like yourself are able to contribute to. And I think an extension of services we already offer here. But that’s as far as my dream would be a blog like that and we are starting to go down that path.
We have a really good blog now and it’s Our Children’s on Quality blog. I don’t know if many people have read it, but it’s an actual blog and a podcast by Dr. Rick McClead and he is a medical director of quality improvement services here, and he takes an in-depth look at the quality issues affecting pediatric healthcare across the country.
20:01
He speaks more one-on-one with those on the frontline to patient care. So it’s quite interesting but that is our first blog and we do have plans for others, but really my dreams for the blog of Nationwide Children’s will be a blog that depending on where you are, the information is good for you and will have a lot doctors participating.
Dr. Mike Patrick: I think that’s a cool idea because it is tough to have, and there are pediatricians who do it. Seattle Mama Doc is one example. But it is tough when you’re a physician and you’re seeing kids all day long I mean, where in Seattle. It really does. And then, you’ve got your family life.
So it’s tough to commit to being able to write on a weekly basis or more often. So if you had a group of physicians who enjoyed writing and had interesting things to say and you can kind of rotate through, I think that’s a fabulous idea.
21:01
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. I think a blog that encompasses, perhaps one of our researchers, perhaps a doctor from our sports medicine. We do so much here and it’s really important to let people know what we do, but to get take… Again, as soon as you hear something in the mainstream media, you’re out there Googling it and you’re trying to find the information. And it just goes back to us. We have experts here want to be the trusted source.
Especially if you live in Central Ohio, we’re so lucky to have a children’s hospital of this caliber right here in Columbus and across the country. As you said, people do come here for our expertise. So it’s just another way you want the get the word out.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. I can see myself being the sarcastic, cynical voice on such a plug.
Kelli Nowinsky: We need that.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And my listeners all know it’s true. OK, so you did mention Miracles at Play and we’ve talked about this before on PediaCast. What exactly is Miracles at Play?
Kelli Nowinsky: I think that Miracles at Play is an amazing idea, and what it is, is that you join a movement. Miracles at Play is a movement. If you care about the health of children and you want to participate and do something about it, you’ll join Miracles at Play because the idea behind is that at the end of the day, all of the work that we do here, we just want children to be children.
22:18
And your child dealing with perhaps a life threatening illness or an illness. Perhaps you have asthma and that’s going to affect your life. But we want to support the health of all children. We want all children to get healthy. So this movement is something that you would join. It’s very, very simple. Basically, you can join three ways: You can like us on Facebook, you can follow us on Twitter, or you can sign up in miraclesatplay.org.
It’s free, there’s no cost. And here’s the bonus, here’s the important thing: For every person who signs up for a Miracles at Play the movement, and it’s basically, people ask, “What is it?” You’re just saying, “Yes, I support the health of all children. I want Nationwide Children’s to continue to help provide that support so children can just be kids.”
23:08
For every person that signs up, we get a dollar up to $100,000. So, extremely gracious move by Wolfe Associate, and so we’re about 30,000 people away from our goal, so we really encourage everyone to sign up for Miracles at Play because all the money goes here to the hospital to support the children that come here. I just like to remind everybody that this hospital is pretty extraordinary in the fact that we never turn away someone because of their inability to pay.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Right. And it also provides parents way to get plugged in to social media here at Nationwide Children’s. Each parent can help contribute $3 to the hospital if they like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and provide their email, which we don’t sell or give away. You won’t get a bunch of spam or junk mail from us. It’s just a way for us to communicate now and then.
Kelli Nowinsky: Absolutely. I always love to tell this story. The idea behind the Miracles at Play is we focus on what we call seven miracle children. They were children who’ve overcome many odds, from a heart transplant to patient suffering from type 1 diabetes, to leukemia.
24:16
So these seven miracle children who’ve overcome obstacles that I personally can’t imagine inspired us to start this campaign. So we’re really excited about it and, again, we just need 30,000 more people to reach our $100,000 goal.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And you can read about their stories as well at miraclesatplay.org. I’ve never really pushed that part of it, actually, that we do have these seven kids and you can read their stories and they’re definitely stories of hope and inspiration.
Kelli Nowinsky: They have amazing stories and you can read the stories, you can submit your own story. This is where you would submit your family story. There’s some wonderful videos on there about the movement and what we’re trying to accomplish, but it’s a really feel good thing. It’ll make you feel good just by clicking.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, that’s great. And in the show notes over at pediacast.org, we’ll have links to the Nationwide Children’s website where you can find all these things and also a link directly to our page on Facebook and our Twitter channel as well. So we’ll have all that in the show notes at pediacast.org.
25:13
Kelli Nowinsky: We just have some, I just encourage people, like you said, to like us and follow us because really, I feel like where on the cause and we’re going to continue to have some great content. Some content that you just need as a parent, a guardian. So we’ll have some really, really exciting things coming up.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Great. Now, one of the things that I ask every guest at the end of the interview right now is we’re really all about families doing stuff together and there’s so much screen stuff that kind of interferes with the bonding within the family, between video games and computers and television. So, one of the things that we like to do at our house is the good old fashion board game. So from your childhood, what’s your favorite board game?
26:01
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh my gosh. Well, probably… You know, I always remember Sorry.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Sorry?
Kelli Nowinsky: Do they still make that?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. I think that’s the one where… See, whenever I hear Sorry, I think of the one where you push the bubble.
Kelli Nowinsky: No, that’s not the bubble.
Dr. Mike Patrick: That’s not it though, is it? But you have to try to get your tokens around the board and home.
Kelli Nowinsky: Yes. I can visualize the little game piece right now. And sorry, of course we played our share of Monopoly too. And then the other game, it’s not a board game, but the Horseshoe is maybe what you call it here. Or not Horseshoe. What is that where you hit the ball through the…
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh yes, croquet.
Kelli Nowinsky: Croquet.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Like the queen of hearts.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s a very big family game. Not a board game, but a family game.
Dr. Mike Patrick: What was one with the bubble?
Kelli Nowinsky: Now that you just said…
Dr. Mike Patrick: And you push it and it makes the dice go.
Kelli Nowinsky: Now I have to know. I know exactly what you’re talking about and now I have to figure it out.
Dr. Mike Patrick: You know, and there’s a thousand people in their cars right now like all shouting out.
27:00
Kelli Nowinsky: I know. What is that game? That bubble made such a sound that you can’t…
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. We’ll figure it out.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh now I have to Google it.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And I’m going to have a bunch of email coming in. So in a future show we will be telling what.
Kelli Nowinsky: What is that game?
Dr. Mike Patrick: So, sorry. We had Dr. David Hains stopped by. He’s a nephrologist here at Children’s, his favorite was Risk, which takes forever to play. But my kids love it. They’re always like, “Can we play Risk?” Although they’ll get board about halfway through the game and then it will sit there a day then the cats will jump up and ruin the board. That’s usually what happens at our house.
Kelli Nowinsky: You know, I think it’s really special that you do that because video games… Even my 15-month old son, I mean now, with the iPad, he sees my iPad and he grabs it because they have apps out there for babies and it’s just in the way the world.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And Dr. Sarah O’Brien who was here a couple of days ago, her favorite was Clue.
Kelli Nowinsky: Oh, Clue! That’s right. That’s a really good one. That’s a great family game.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then, I wanted to bring something else up, and since you’re here you just have to listen. Sorry.
28:02
Kelli Nowinsky: OK. Thanks.
Dr. Mike Patrick: We’re doing so many interview shows here. I know I couldn’t wait to bring this up with the audience until we were doing a new show. We were out at the store the other day and I realized because I don’t have any kids who obviously are potty training right now and your son is 15 months old, so you’re not quite there yet.
Kelli Nowinsky: No. I don’t want to be there yet.
Dr. Mike Patrick: They’ve got crazy potty chairs out there now. They’ve got these potty chairs that… I mean, it used to be, you know, it was just a potty chair, right? It was just kind of a tool. But now, it’s this whole big thing.
Kelli Nowinsky: Do they talk or something?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Oh yes. They’ve got, let’s see, Fisher Price has the Cheer for Me Potty and it has a clicking toilet handle and a stick where you put the toilet paper. It has encouraging songs, fun lyrics and phrases, so it’ll say, “Way to go!” and “You did it!” in English and Spanish. So, I don’t know. I mean, maybe I’m a little cynical again, but do we really need elaborate potty chairs. I mean, really.
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Kelli Nowinsky: I just wonder, and again, all the parents out there are like, “She doesn’t know because she hasn’t potty trained,” I just wonder that if you use really techy potty training, like the little baby toilets, are they all of a sudden get on a normal toilet and expect it to talk.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes. And it’s like a step backward, like I got to use this really cool thing and now I got to use the big porcelain white, you know. I don’t know.
Kelli Nowinsky: Ask me when do they potty train, you can remind everybody. I have no idea. Two?
Dr. Mike Patrick: Well, some kids already at late two. Most are more with early three-ish, but it depends on the kid.
Kelli Nowinsky: You can ask me again in a year and a half. Thank God. I might have a different potty.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And then they have a blue one that was the Royal Stepstool Potty, and a pink one that is the Princess Stepstool Potty and those are different ones that play four royal tunes as a reward.
Kelli Nowinsky: That is so crazy.
Dr. Mike Patrick: Yes, I know, it’s crazy.
Kelli Nowinsky: That’s a little crazy.
Dr. Mike Patrick: All right. Well, thank you Kelli for stopping by and we’re going to have you come back in a few months and just sort of give us an update, especially with the blogs as we sort of get rolling on those.
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Kelli Nowinsky: Wish I could talk about the exciting things we have on our eyes, but you all stay tuned.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And next time you come we’ll be able to talk about them as things come up and are available. So thank you very much.
Kelli Nowinsky: Thank you.
Dr. Mike Patrick: And of course, thank you to all of you for tuning in to PediaCast. Once again I want to remind you, if there’s a topic that you like us to discuss, it’s easy to get a hold of us just go to pediacast.org and click on the contact link. You can also email pediacast@gmail.com or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. That’s 347-404-5437.
And until next time, this is Dr. Mike saying stay safe, stay healthy and stay involved with your kids. So long everybody.
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Announcer 3: This program is a production of Nationwide Children’s. Thanks for listening! We’ll see you next time on PediaCast.
