Child Life

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As part of Riley Hospital's health care team, the Child Life Program seeks to minimize the stress and anxiety children often experience by using therapeutic activities that address patient and families social, emotional, and educational needs during hospitalization.

Why Play is Important to a Child

Through Play children learn socialization, communication skills, self-expression of feelings, mastery of developmental milestones, and expressing ideas about their environment and coping with the unknown. That is why here at Riley Hospital for Children, we believe in the importance of filling each child's life with opportunities for play.

The Child life program provides play opportunities to promote:

• Continued growth
• Diversion and distraction
• Self-expression
• Freedom of choice
• Normalization
• Socialization

Child Life Specialists are:

Professionals who have educational backgrounds in child life, child health, child development or related fields at the Bachelors or Masters level. Child Life Specialists closely work with other medical staff to address the emotional and social needs of children. Child Life Assistants and volunteers assist specialists.

Child Life Specialists can provide:

• Medical play/preparation
  Helps children learn about their upcoming procedure and correct misconceptions children may have about procedures by using medical equipment. Through play, children are able to practice, step by step, the events of the procedure.
• Procedural support
  Helps the patient and family use coping skills during the patient's procedure. Through different distraction techniques Child Life Specialist are able to divert the child's attention from their pain and lessen anxiety. Each child enjoys something different, for example: music, books and/or bubbles.
• Psychosocial/emotional support
  Helps the patient and family understand and express feelings about the hospital experience. The Child Life program is geared towards this social and emotional support to help keep the child developing.
• Developmentally appropriate activities
  Provides daily activities, such as play. Patients activities are based on age ability interest and needs. Activities are provided at bedside, unit playrooms or clinic waiting areas. These activities offer creative expression, and a sense of accomplishment.

Additional Child Life services:

• Special art programs
• Holiday celebrations
• Celebrity guest visitors
• Closed circuit television
• Community special visitors
• Seasonal/event celebrations