New Research

The Hidden Angel Foundation is proud to support and contribute to the research and work being done around the use of Multi Sensory Stimulation for premature infants within the Neonatal Research Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Neonatal Research Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital offers preterm infants the maternal auditory and tactile vibroacoustic stimulation needed to develop properly. The ultimate goal of this research project is to improve developmental outcomes in extremely premature infants through the unique application of multisensory stimulation while in the hospital bed. A total of 25 preterm infants will participate in this study over a 2 year period. BWH will specifically target infants born very prematurely between 25 – 32 weeks gestation as this patient population has the highest risk for developmental problems.

Thanks to the Hidden Angel Foundation, the infants will be exposed to audio recording of their own mother’s voice, heartbeat, and music transmitted to the infant’s incubator via vibroacoustic technology. Vibroacoustic platforms have been developed by HAF to help stimulate individuals with neurological challenges. BWH hypothesizes that this bedside technology will provide infants with a more womb-like environment to grow, providing them with both the audio and vibrational stimulation they need in order to develop normally. This research will collect critically important data that will shed more light about the importance of multisensory stimulation in extremely premature infants and may increase their potential for normal development.

Your professional and monetary support has been extremely valuable to our clinical work in the neonatal ICU as we develop pioneering techniques to enhance the survivorship and health outcomes of very premature and critically ill babies. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, we became focused on the importance of sensory stimulation in the neonatal period and its potential impact on enhancing neurological development. At this time we turned to Bud and Sandra (and the Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation) in an effort to learn from the many years that they have devoted to this approach. The foundation has been more than generous in sharing their many years of experience and their innovative techniques as well as assisted the funding of our essential research in this area. Their selfless contribution of time, expertise and funding will lead to a positive outcome in the development of premature children throughout the United States and Canada. Considering growing evidence in this field, it is clear that the use of sensory stimulation in sick babies and children with disabilities should deserve much more attention. I believe that with true leaders such as Sandra and Bud, this filed will grow to a new level.

– Amir Lahav, ScD PhD, Dept. of Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School.

The Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation (CDHAF) was created in honor and recognition of Christopher Douglas Fornes and Joyce Baye. CDHAF enriches the lives, health, and social well-being of people with cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges through the use of our Multi Sensory Environments™ (MSE). Our focus is on the design, development, implementation and education of our Multi Sensory Environments™ with the aim to enable productivity, inclusion, independence, and self-determination. Our approach is based on well-documented studies of neurological cognition and emotional development. We offer advisory and financial support for the establishment of integrated, publicly accessible Multi Sensory facilities and for basic research and … Continue Reading

Evolution of the Legacy of a Hidden Angel

The 2021 New Year continues to bring positive changes within the Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation (CDHAF).

We are extremely proud of the pioneering role we played many years ago in bringing multi-sensory environments to North America and raising their profile over the last two decades. Today throughout North America, more and more charities are providing funding to organizations wishing to implement these multi-sensory environments for children and adults with special needs. While this decreases our need to fund rooms we are also excited that this will allow us to be more involved in providing guidance and training in the area of MSEs.

Over the years our namesake, Chris has been the driving force behind the numerous initiatives to enrich the lives of individuals with special needs by providing:

• Design and financial support for over 100 MSE rooms

• Intellectual property for the development of a program for premature babies

• Equipment and expertise for the use of MSE with seniors challenged by dementia / alzheimers

• Online training focused on MSE methodology and best use practices

• Donations to support food for special needs children in impoverished areas

• Formation and co-management of an unprecedented program to train first responders in dealing with individuals with special needs

• Developing companion pets through sensory stimulation and life experiences

• Design and construction of the first MSE environment designed for individuals with special needs that incorporates life without limits and nature as the sensory component

• Ongoing support for a playground designed for individuals with special needs

• Provided Multi Sensory Room on Extreme Makeover Home Edition to the Craft Family (Hondo, TX)

The preceding and the following illustrate the multifaceted legacy of an extraordinary young man who, to quote Kubler-Ross – “taught us love is the true meaning of life”.

As we move on from the funding and installing of multi-sensory rooms (as the support from others grows), the foundation will continue to exist as an open knowledge-based organization providing guidance to facilities wishing to implement a multi-sensory environment (MSE) for children and adults with special needs.

The Foundation website will become an informational and training tool to provide research-based methodology and information, including MSE concepts, MSE designs, equipment uses, MSE benefits, and operational training. Organizations looking for funding will be directed to other charitable organizations that support the use of multi-sensory environments in education, recreation, and therapy.

In addition it will provide a free online training program to provide knowledge on best practices and the overall philosophy of MSE based on decades of hands on experience.

The sister organization to CDHAF, Hidden Angel Companion Pets will also be providing information on the benefits of companion pets for children with special needs and best practices in raising a pet to be a natural companion animal. Pets provide therapeutic benefits such as companionship, love, humor, play, exercise, a sense of power and outlets for displacement, projection and nurturance; Talking to animals and the tactile experience of petting animals reduces stress and enhances physical health (including lowering blood pressure and reducing heart rate) and longevity; Animals enhance psychological development, improve social skills, increase independence, and increase self-esteem; Animals can be a source of comfort and contribute to ego strength among children; The human-animal bond supports empathy development, the ability to form and express attachments, and the reaction to grief and loss; and Dogs help increase activity among those with disabilities, prevent childhood obesity, promote recovery after a heart attack, and encourage walking in the elderly.

Looking ahead, those of us committed to Chris foresee many more initiatives reflecting his life and impacting the lives of others.

New Research

Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation

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