The Early Link - Summer Camps Foster Kids' Social Development & Peer Connection

Join us Sundays at 4:30pm for new episodes of The Early Link Podcast. Listen live at 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland – or online anywhere at PRP.fm

On our newest episode, host Rafael Otto speaks with Dr. Christian Molstrom. He is an emergency medicine trained physician and currently the medical director for Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care and they operate about 15 clinics in the Portland and Vancouver region. He is an Oregon native and graduated from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine in 2009. The subject of this episode revolves around parents sending their their kids to summer camps. Here, they talk a little bit about what that means for the children, the opportunities involved, and some of the challenges kids face before they go into summer camps.

Summary:

As it is extremely important for children to be outdoors and active, Dr. Molstrom begins by touching on those health benefits. These include a reduction in anxiety, increase in their and social networks, and more. In addition, they discuss the connection between screen time, social isolation, and anxiety/depression, and how the structured outdoor space, environment, and opportunities to engage with a peer group at a summer camp could offset those effects.
They each then touch on the experiences of their own children during the pandemic, regarding learning, social isolation, and how not all of the five senses are being utilized in the learning environment. And to make up for lost time, Otto asks Molstrom what outdoor activities he engages in with his own children.

However, since COVID cases are at a high, Dr. Molstrom then givess his own medical advice on what parents and families need to know about sending their kids to an outdoor camp at this time of year.

Host:

Rafael Otto, Director of Communications, Children’s Institute

~ Thanks to Children’s Institute, working to ensure that every child in Oregon has the best start in life