Child Life Means More than Medicine

A hospital is an unfamiliar environment for children. It’s filled with new sounds, smells and people. For children, it can be the most frightening and traumatizing experience of their life, especially if
they’re in the early stages of their development.

“One of the worst things for children is the loss of control they experience when they enter the hospital,” says Rita Goshert, Child Life Manager, Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. “What they’ve been working on their whole life, no matter what age they are, is gaining more and more control, and unfortunately that’s taken away in the hospital.”

A Child Life Specialist’s primary role is to normalize the scary environment of a hospital. Each Child Life Specialist has a bachelor or master’s degree in child development or a related field. While hospitalized, the Child Life team focuses on the child and the family, where the child is developmentally and ensuring that they continue to provide all the developmental experiences the child would have at home or in school.

“Ensuring that a child stays on track for their development is just as important as the medical treatment they receive,” says Goshert. “If a child is not able to play and socialize with their peers it can bring their health care and treatment plan backward. As a Child Life department, we strive to provide everything a child needs developmentally, and for kids play is their work.”

Child Life provides as many play opportunities as possible in the hospital setting. With a mantra that no child is ever too sick to play, Child Life Specialists ensure that in each area of
Miller Children’s, patients are given an outlet of play to work through the feelings they have related to their treatment.

Depending on where the child is developmentally it may be difficult for them to understand, and play is the perfect way for child life specialists to pick up on misconceptions that a child might have about their hospitalization and help clear them up.

Preparation for medical procedures also is a critical aspect of helping children understand and process their feelings about hospitalization. Specialists prepare children before they go into any surgery, medical procedure or encounter. Often called “medical play,” the preparation sessions are geared to the developmental level of the child.

Letting a child manipulate medical tools and explore them to understand how it works gives the child control over a potentially anxiety-producing piece of equipment. Simulated medical equipment, dolls, books and other teaching materials are used to promote greater understanding and allow children to feel a part of, and not apart from what is happening to them.

By supporting patients and families though each step of their care, Child Life Specialists take the trauma out of hospitalization.