Mission Statement

A first ever conference addressing the longterm psychological and social consequences
affecting hospitalized young children and those undergoing intensive treatment for
injuries and disease. Throughout childhood ( from birth to eighteen years), children
under the age of five are at the highest risk for accidents, illness and invasive disease.
They experience the most hospitalizations as well as emergency room, out-patient and
doctor office visits. Young children are the least prepared and most vulnerable to the
stress, pain and unpredictability of medical events. The harmful effects of these early
experiences can last a lifetime.

This conference brings together leading experts in the medical community to help
define the developmental significance of early medical trauma, the impact of health
care experiences and to propose options for intervention and prevention for parents,
caregivers and health care providers attending infants and young children.
Developed under the aegis of Margie Wagner, President of Child Development Media,
Wagner was for twenty-one years the head of the Child Life Program at Children’s
Hospital Los Angeles, It is in the context of this history that The Chase Foundation, working
with Wagner, determined the need for, as well as the scope and goals of this conference.