The W.O. Frohring Family Resource Center at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is dedicated to helping patients and their families become active and informed participants in their own health and medical care. In this section you'll find ideas and information on a variety of topics related to health care, family life, hospital and community resources and much more.

The Frohring Family Resource Center supports a caring and effective partnership between families and their healthcare team. It is a resource for Rainbow Babies & Children's patients, parents and staff members. Community members are also welcome to visit or call. Materials may be borrowed for a limited time within the hospital. Copying services are available.

Please wear your hospital issued Parent or Visitor Identification badge to open an in-patient account and borrow materials. Once an account is opened, it will stay in the library's computer and can be updated when necessary. You should receive a Parent I.D. badge from your division. Parent and Visitor badges are also available at our first floor Lobby Reception desk.

Many of our resources are generic in nature. They may or may not accurately pertain to your particular situation. Published medical information often requires interpretation by medical professionals and can become outdated very quickly. Library staff cannot provide advice, opinions, interpretations or counseling. It is important to ask your primary healthcare provider any questions you may have.

What You'll Find Inside

The Family Resource Collection, which offers medical dictionaries, books by specific diagnosis or condition, support information and pamphlets in a comfortable setting. Our staff is trained to help assist families to conduct research on specific issues and assist with guided Internet access.

You'll also find information about specific illnesses, educational issues, grief/bereavement, local/national support organizations, advocacy/legal issues, family/parenting, nutrition/breastfeeding, sibling issues, and much more...

The Carol Carmany White Children's Library

The Carol Carmany White Children's Library offers recreational reading to our patients and families. We have a wide assortment of favorites including "pop-ups", search and seek themes, baby hard board books and interesting characters and animals the children will enjoy.

Our Bedside Reading Program is staffed by trained volunteers. They will visit the division with a book cart and distribute books, magazines and offer to read to your child. When volunteers are available, they are able to take special requests for other materials in the resource center and bring them to you.

The Alli Makar Video Collection

The Alli Makar Video Collection offers recreational videos for hospitalized children and their families. Our collection houses family fare rated PG-13 and under. Families may borrow up to two videos at a time once a parent or caregiver establishes a library account.

The Family Resource Center sponsors the WVIZ/PBS Kid TV on VIZ PREP "Ready to Read" program. Each month our patients, ages 3 to 6, receive a free book and other information to promote reading and enhance the reading experience. We also sponsor Help Me Grow workshops, providing educational outreach to help parents prepare their children for a lifetime of learning. Topics include health, safety, nutrition, reading and much more. Please call 216-844-1309 for dates and times. For more information on these programs, read the recent news story: Programs Answer Needs of Toddlers, Parents.

The Pizza Hut "Book It" program is also available to our patients in grades K-6 during the months of October through March. Children are encouraged to set their own reading goals with their parents by checking out books while in the hospital and earning a gift certificate for a free pizza.

The Family Learning Center

The Family Learning Center offers caregivers the opportunity to learn and practice special skills they need to perform at home and age appropriate safe well child care. Education is provided by experienced pediatric registered nurses to provide quality instruction for families in a quiet learning environment.

Families can learn:

• Tracheostomy care
• Infant/Child CPR
• Enteral Feeding
• Diabetic teaching
• Ostomy Care
• Child/infant nutrition
• Oxygen home care & emergency care
• Cast Care
• Medication administration

Families can be referred by staff or call Ext. 41946 for an appointment.

Donations

If you would like to make a donation of new or gently used books and videos to the Family Resource Center, please call 216-844-1309 to make arrangement.  We also welcome financial contributions. For further information call 216-844-1309, Fax 216-844-4790.

Wishlist

• New or gently used videotapes or DVDs (prefer VHS for longer use). Tapes/DVDs must be rated PG-13 or under and have appropriate themes (nothing overly violent, sexual or too adult).
• Comedies and action movies for the PG-13 and older viewers
• Need TV or movie “classics”
• We usually receive too many toddler cartoon tapes and these will be redistributed to other pediatric areas within RB&C
• Blank VHS cassettes that have plastic sleeve for the cover literature
• Blank CD/R cd disks for recording music
• Blank CD/RW disks
• New children’s books (or very gently used)
• Books about the human body told from various learning levels/age groups
• “Search” books such as “Where’s Waldo?”, “I Spy” and puzzle or maze searches
• Books about animals, nature, children
• Resource books about specific illnesses or conditions – written for the lay reader
• Medical resource books or medical dictionaries, drug reference, anatomy
• Due to space constraints within the resource center, we keep the new books and find a suitable area within RB&C to place the other books we receive as donations
• Audio CDs for relaxation, lullaby music, classical, any other music as long as it doesn’t have a parental advisory warning label on it.
• Medical models of human anatomy
• MAGAZINE subscriptions for women’s magazines, teens and sports. The most requested are for People, Teen People, US, In Style, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Highlights, Disney, Computer Games, Games. All subscriptions should be mailed to:
  Family Resource Center
  11100 Euclid Avenue – RBC6042
  Cleveland, OH 44106

Wishlist Misc./Other

• Personal DVD players to lend to patients (the small ones)
• Personal CD/Radio boom boxes to lend to patients
• Patients and families ask for laptop computers to borrow or any Internet-ready PC to borrow through the resource center.
• Digital camera
• Scrapbooking materials, albums, papers, scissors, etc.