Caring for the World Together

Soaringwords and VIA Character Strengths

Positive Health and Wellness

Presented by:

Lisa Honig Buksbaum, CEO & Founder, Soaringwords

lisa@soaringwords.org

Jonathan’s graduation from the University of Wisconsin, 2012.

8

Soaringwords’ mission is to lessen the negative impact of serious illness by embracing hospitalized

children, families and staff, encouraging positive health and healing. Soaringwords provides fun, creative

and educational activities both in person and online based on positive psychology concepts that enhance

well-being in the midst of illness. Soaringwords is unique because it is the only organization that

motivates ill children and their families to “pay it forward” which fosters altruism, reciprocity, empathy,

well-being and resilience.

Each day, pediatric patients battle against serious medical challenges and the multiple

indignities of living in an institutional setting while struggling to maintain a pre-hospital

identity.

1010

What is so inspiring about what you do with

Soaringwords is that you are helping to

remind people of the fundamental truth that

they can share positive emotions with

others, even in the most difficult times. It's

especially important in those difficult times

because it helps people rediscover their

resilience and their ability to thrive, despite

the suffering.

- Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, Principal Investigator at

the University of North Carolina Positive Emotions

and Psychophysiology Lab, President International

Positive Psychology Association, and bestselling

author of Positivity and Love 2.0.

Soaringwords Video:

Incorporating Positivity & Love Into Each Day

Soaringwords’ Unique Contribution:

Paying-it-forward

• The only organization that motivates ill children and their families to “pay it forward”

through pro-social activities which foster altruism, reciprocity, well-being and

resilience.

• Invites everyone – ill children and their families, healthy children and volunteers - to

pay-it-forward sending encouragement to others, enhancing their own feelings of

meaning, purpose, health, resilience and happiness.

• Encourages individuals to help others in need which enables them to transcend their

own suffering and experience a greater sense of well-being and resilience. This

practice is especially helpful for hospitalized children and their families.

11In between chemo treatments, Taylor and her family donated

hundreds of SoaringQuilts® and SoaringPillows® to children at

Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.

The opportunity for sharing a simple altruistic gesture of

humanity elevates the giver and the receiver. -Grant, 2013

Youth Groups

Community Groups

School Children

Other Hospitalized Children

Hospitalized Children

When a child is ill, the entire

family and extended

community are affected

Employee Volunteers

26% of children in the U.S.

suffer from a long-term health

problem. (Journal of American Medical

Association, 2010)

Five Year Survival Rate Children

with Cancer:

1975 – 1977 58%

1996 – 2004 80%

(Reis et al., 2007)

When a child is seriously ill, his or her

social and emotional worlds can be

shattered.

• isolated from friends, classmates,

siblings, and daily routines

• stressful and painful experience

• limited opportunities for choice and

control

• bombarded with invasive

procedures

• sensory overload

(Thompson, 2009)

PERMA Framework:

Positive emotions

Engagement

Relationships

Meaning

Accomplishment

(Martin Seligman, 2011)

PERSPECTIVE

BR

AV

ER

Y

JU

DG

ME

NT

LO

VE

OF

LE

AR

NIN

Gc r e a t i v i t yCURIOSITY

perseverance

ZE

ST

HONESTYlo

ve

kindness

social intelligence

teamwork

FAIRNESS

LE

AD

ER

SH

IP

forgiveness

HU

MIL

ITY

PRUDENCE

self-re

gu

latio

n

appreciation of

beauty and

excellence

GRATITUDE

HOPE

h u m o r

spirituality

Source : VIA Character Strengths and Virtues

SHARING:

Child gives superhero to someone they know or to a stranger.

Superhero displayed in the hospital room.

Superhero posted on www.soaringwords.org.

Ill child makes a superhero

message for someone else

Ill child receives a superhero

message

A patient and her sister at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, creating artwork and

messages for others.

Gratitude:

Love:

Kindness:

Soaringwords has pioneered a new model to enhance well-being of patients and

volunteers.

• Somatic: take physical action and feel emotionally engaged

• Outcomes: measure empirically

• Agency & Altruism: sense of control in choosing to engage in altruistic activity for another

person

SOAR: A new positive psychology construct

• Reciprocity & Resilience: reciprocity is

feeling deeply connected to others in personal and

emotional ways (Grant, 2013). Resilience is the

capacity to prevail in the face of difficulty and is a

measure of heightened well-being (Reivich & Shatté,

2003). Reciprocity and resilience strengthen patients’

coping capacity for present and future challenges.

Testing Soaring SuperHeroes

How do you feel right now?

“I feel excited”

“I feel bored”

Responses: Less than before the activity,

about the same, more than before activity

250 pediatric patients participated in the study

220 completed the full survey

30 completed a partial intervention

“Today was the happiest day of my life because I learned I could help another person.”

References

Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Love 2.0. How our supreme emotion affects everything we feel, think, do and

become. New York: Hudson Street Press.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking research reveals how to embrace the hidden strength of

positive emotions, overcome negativity, and thrive. New York: Crown Publishers.

Grant, A. (2013). Give and take. New York: Viking.

Howell, R. T., Kern. M.L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). Health benefits: Meta-analytically determining the impact

of well-being on objective health outcomes. Health Psychology Review, 1, 83-136.

Huppert, F. (2009). Psychological well-being: Evidence regarding the causes and consequences. Applied

Psychology. 1, 2, 137-164

JAMA Add

Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peterson, C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Reis, H., et al. (2007). Add

Seligman, M.E.P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York:

Free Press.

Thompson, R. (2009). Handbook of Child Life: A guide for pediatric psychosocial care. Springfield, IL.: Charles

C. Thomas Publisher