Universal Children’s Day: Celebrate Your Pediatric Patients!
November 20th is Universal Children’s Day, “A fun day with a serious message”. Children remind us of innocence, joy, and a purity of heart that can’t be found anywhere else. This is why we’re told not to “lose our inner child”, and why we describe feeling “a childlike sense of wonder” during our happiest experiences. It’s why we are encouraged to view things “through the eyes of a child”. And no one understands that childhood and its innocence should be cherished and protected better than the team at SmileMakers!
Background & History of Universal Children’s Day
The goal of Universal Children’s Day is to improve child welfare worldwide and to promote and celebrate children’s rights. This day of awareness commemorates the date that the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). These documents deal with child-specific needs and rights and require that ratifying states of the UN must act in a child’s best interests.
Children’s Rights are Human Rights
A few of the basic liberties listed in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child include:
- The right to life
- The right to health and health services
- The right to a family
- The right to education and play
- The right to have a voice and to be heard
- The right to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion
Since these implementations in 1959 and 1989, millions of young lives have been saved. More children than ever are in school and are actively involved in decisions concerning their lives. However, obstacles still exist for children in many parts of the world. According to UNICEF, 29,000 children worldwide die every day as a result of poverty, often due to preventable diseases. It’s on this day of awareness that we’re reminded we still have a long way to go. But, as a healthcare provider, you make a positive impact!
Make Healthcare Fun with SmileMakers
Universal Children’s Day is especially meaningful for pediatric doctors because healthcare providers have a unique opportunity to positively affect the health and welfare of children. Each child that enters your office has their own personality, fears, and healthcare needs. Taking care of those needs is a powerful thing, and giving children the best experience possible is paramount to establishing proper health and hygiene routines.
Education and prevention are key to keeping children safe and healthy for their entire lives, and at SmileMakers, we do our best to make healthcare experiences fun and interesting for children. Our dental patient education supplies will help you present information enthusiastically, in a way that kids will remember and appreciate. If a little patient needs a series of treatments, you can help relieve anxiety and keep them engaged with a Passport to Better Health Booklet or reward each treatment with a collectible in our Treatment Series.
Celebrate children by giving them a reason to smile!
We’re always thinking of fresh ways to keep medical visits encouraging and kid-friendly. Capsule Vending Machines get kids excited, keep them engaged and give them positive memories of their visits.
Sources:
Moccia, Patricia (2009).The State of the World’s Children: Celebrating 20 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Retrieved from: https://www.unicef.org/rightsite/sowc/pdfs/SOWC_Spec%20Ed_CRC_Main%20Report_EN_090409.pdf
