Caroline Conquers The World!

An Update on a Worldwide Community Service Project by LSU Health New Orleans Faculty and Students

A children’s coping and coloring book written and illustrated by three counselors at LSU Health New Orleans to help children deal with the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic has garnered attention and acclaim from far and wide. Louisiana First Lady Donna Edwards chose Caroline Conquers her Corona Fears to read during her virtual story time. Educators and counselors throughout the US are using the book Drs. Erin Dugan, Kellie Camelford and Krystal Vaughn created as a resource for their clients at the Clinical Rehabilitation and Counseling clinic at LSU Heath New Orleans School of Allied Health Professions. Even a psychologist at an Istanbul university wanted to use the book in her practice, and it was translated into Turkish.

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A request also came from the United States Health and Human Services (HHS) Department working to aid recovery from another devastating disaster -- Hurricane Maria. The Director of the Human Services Branch Health and Social Services Recovery Support Function in Puerto Rico wrote, “In our branch, we work to support the local Department of Education among other local agencies engaged in the recovery efforts, I recently saw the Caroline Conquers her Corona Fears materials and was impressed by the book. I was wondering, is the book available in Spanish? I know a resource such as this would be of great help to the local Department of Education and other local agencies but having it in Spanish would make it truly accessible to the children of Puerto Rico. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful resource.”

Patricia Molina, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Physiology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, recruited a cadre of medical students, and Marco Acosta, William Boles, Margaret Carey, Nicolas Chanes, Michael Dubic, Alexis Hernandez, Jackson Mierl, Alex Miller, Jimmy Saravia and Jeannette Zavala got to work. They produced Carolina Conquista Sus Miedos Sobre El Coronavirus, which was sent to Puerto Rico and also posted here.

Says Dr. Molina, “These are the future bilingual leaders of health care! They are a good group!”

In the meantime, Drs. Dugan, Camelford and Vaughn have been busy writing a sequel. Caroline Continues to Conquer is now available as another resource for children and families. Caroline and her family are learning how to keep calm and carry on through a variety of routines and activities like going on “bear hunts” in their neighborhood, new ways to celebrate birthdays and “front porch pictures.” Also featured are how to make a “calm down” glitter bottle, coping wheels, and “stuck” and “flexible thinking” charts.

Caroline Continues to Conquer is free and available for download here. And the HHS recovery team in Puerto Rico has a surprise coming. Dr. Molina just finished translating it, and Carolina Sigue Conquistando! will be on its way to them soon.