While no parent wants their child to end up spending time in the hospital, Child Life Specialists are trained professionals who work to make the experience as positive as possible. Not every hospital has child life specialists. This is something that makes children’s hospitals unique.
Primary Children’s Hospital has 21 Certified Child Life Specialists at our main campus and four at our children’s unit in Riverton Hospital. Additionally, child life specialists assist in various clinics and outpatient procedures.
In honor of Child Life Week (March 8 - 14), here’s a look at some of the things a Child Life Specialists does to improve your child’s experience at the hospital:
- Ease a child’s fear and anxiety through therapeutic & recreational play activities. Child Life Specialists encourage healthy expression and discussion of feelings through various forms of play, including medical play.
- Encourage understanding and cooperation by providing education, preparation and support for children undergoing tests, surgeries, and other medical procedures. Child life specialists are experts in using child friendly language to explain all aspects of hospitalization to children.
- Facilitate non-medicinal pain management. These include use of guided imagery, distraction techniques, therapeutic essential oils, breathing techniques, and other pain interventions.
- Engage children and families by providing special events, entertainment, and activities. Our hospital playroom, the Forever Young Zone, is coordinated by child life and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a variety of opportunities for play, arts and crafts, games and other therapeutic activities.
- Foster a supportive environment by working to incorporate familiarization and emotional support.
- Provide support for families including age-appropriate play for affected siblings and educational resources for families.
Child Life Specialists are child development experts who work to ensure that life remains as normal as possible for children in health care settings. In honor of Child Life Week, we’d like to recognize and thank these skilled professionals for the difference they make in the lives of our patients and their families.
