Doing their best to minimize in-person visits, Cook Children’s Primary Care Physicians and Cook Children’s Urgent Care Physicians are partnering to provide telemedicine visits to help provide the quality pediatric care you expect from Cook Children’s.

A Video Visit allows a patient to have a remote visit with a Cook Children's primary care provider for non-urgent reasons. A patient must have a MyChart account to request a video visit.

• Desktop web browsers
• Mobile devices

Click here for tips on how to prepare for a video vist.  

“Many parents have simple questions that can be answered by a quick conversation with a pediatrician and do not require an in-person visit,” said Justin Smith, M.D., a pediatrician and medical director of Virtual Health for Cook Children’s. “This technology allows our pediatricians to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while still providing high-level care to our patients.”

Patients can access telemedicine at Cook Children’s via two major pathways.

Both require two steps in preparation for a visit:

1. Patients must have active Cook Children’s MyChart accounts.
2. Patients must have the videoconferencing program Zoom downloaded to their device.

After that, parents can choose to either:

• Request a visit with their regular pediatrician by selecting the “Appointments” tab in MyChart or by calling their pediatrician’s office to set up an appointment. These appointments will be available during regular office times. When the time comes for a visit, patients go back to the appointments tab to complete e-check in and start the video visit. Click here to learn more.
• If your child’s regular pediatrician is not available, then you have the option to request a visit with the next available pediatrician by selecting the “Video Visit Now” tab in MyChart. Urgent Care doctors are available to see these visits from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Once selecting the "Video Visit Now" button, patients are put in line for the next available provider.

In addition to telemedicine visits, Cook Children’s pediatricians are actively working to help keep patients safe by direct messaging with patient families and providing phone visits when video is not an option. Messages can include a picture or video and can be sent through the MyChart “Messages” tab.

For more on this, view the following:

• Primary Care Video Visits
• Urgent Care Virtual Visits
• Zoom: https://cookchildrens.org/mychart/Pages/video-visits.aspx
• My Chart: https://cookchildrens.org/mychart

Acknowledge All Feelings

• While children express stress in different ways than adults, they may still have many of the same feelings as adults. Sadness, worry, anger and feelings of loss may be common.
• Before moving to conversations about hope, ways to stay safe, and fun activities to pass the time, it is important to meet children right where they are emotionally.
• Validate your child’s emotions, “It is okay to be feel sad.” And let them know that you have felt that way too “I really miss seeing my friends, too.”
• Encourage expression of emotions in age appropriate ways. For example, art for younger children and journaling for older children.

Honesty is Best

• Even though you are doing your best to keep your child’s life feel as “normal” as possible, children can sense the changes going on around them, and they may have overheard adult conversations and news.
• Children also sense adult worry and anxiety.
• Children fear the unknown, and they often imagine things far worse than reality, so avoiding the discussion of Covid-19 with your children could cause more worry.
• To help your children to feel safe, explain Covid-19 in an honest, yet age appropriate way. See the resources below for age specific help.
• Begin by asking your children what they already know about Covid-19 or what they have heard, and build upon this knowledge. Your goal is to dispel misinformation and fears, not to cause more worry.
• For older children, use specific words children might have heard and ask if they understand the meaning (for example: social distancing, coronavirus, quarantine, pandemic)
• You don’t need to overwhelm children with information or great detail, but be willing to answer their questions openly, simply, and honestly.
• Follow your child’s lead. They will let you know when they have had enough information by asking to play or showing disinterest in the conversation.

Reassure Your Children

• Choose the right time to talk to your children. When you are feeling anxious or worried, this is not the best time. Take time to calm yourself before having important conversations with your children.
• Focus on what you are doing as a family to stay safe (washing hands, staying home, not attending social events, keeping distance from others while playing outside, and maintaining a clean home).
• Discuss how healthcare workers are doing their very best to take care of people who do get sick.
• Explain that most children are staying healthy, and most children have mild symptoms even if they get sick with this virus.

Keep Checking In

• As with any stressful topic, emotions and questions may change and develop over time.
• Revisit the conversation as things change, and be willing to discuss with your children when new questions arise.
• Watch children for signs of stress such as, lack of interest in typical play activities, trouble sleeping, or regression in development and contact your healthcare provider if needed.
• Reassure children that you will always be honest with them.
• Calm your children by explaining this will not last forever.

Routines Help

• Routines and predictability help children to feel safe.
• Keep old routines such as mealtimes and bedtimes.
• Create new routines and allow children to have control and choice in developing these routines.

Age Specific Resources

Preschool:

• Explaining Covid-19:
• Online book explaining social distancing

School Age:

• Printable book explaining Covid-19 (young school age)
• Video explaining Covid-19
• Comic explaining Covid-19

For other questions regarding COVID-19 and children, Cook Children's has developed a resource page with information for parents. 

Written by Cara Bozarth, a child life professional and clinical educator at Cook Children's.