For those of you who are from another discipline or are just interested in what exactly a child life specialist is you've come to the right place! In this post I'm going to tell you what child life is, where you'll find a child life specialist and how we collaborate with other disciplines.
First off what exactly is a child life specialist? As defined by our Association of Child Life Professionals "Certified Child Life Specialists provide evidence-based, developmentally appropriate interventions including therapeutic play, preparation and education that reduce fear, anxiety, and pain for infants, children, and youth. Certified Child Life Specialists are educated and trained in the developmental impact of illness and injury. Their role helps improve patient and family care, satisfaction and overall experience."
Now that is most definitely not how I explain my role when I meet a child in the hospital because a 5 year old is not going to understand what that means! When I first meet a family I say that I'm a child life specialist and my job is to make sure the patient understands what's going on while they're in the hospital and to bring fun stuff for them to do. It may sound simple when I put it that way but I have to bring it down to a level that kids understand because that is my job. I take all the scary things that go on in the hospital and then break it down in a way that a child understands. There's children ages birth-21 coming into hospitals that have to come into outpatient areas like radiology, surgery, hematology/oncology clinic, the emergency center, dialysis, etc. These areas perform invasive tests and infusions of medication and our job is to go in and explain to children why they have to be there as well as be a form of distraction or explanation during the actual procedure. Then we follow them throughout their hospitalization to provide normalcy by playing with them. Whether that be for therapeutic reasons or just for development we play to make things better. We will also be there when they're diagnosed with something new to explain what it is and why they have it. A lot of kids that misconceptions about why they have what they have.
For example we had a child with sickle cell disease the other day (this is a disease you have from birth) and she is 9 years old and when asked why she was in the hospital she said her knee hurt. We asked "well why do you think your knee hurts?" and she said "I think I hit it on something". This child is nine and still didn't understand that she can be hospitalized because her blood cells can turn into a "sickle" shape and they get stuck in different areas of her body which make it hurt. It's not because she hit her knee. So this opportunity her primary child life specialist took to make "blood soup" where we showed her what "regular" blood looks like by putting red hots into corn syrup and they're round like regular red blood cells. We then put red hots and macaroni noodles into a separate container with corn syrup and watched how they can cause the red blood cells to get clogged in certain areas and not pass. By giving this visual she was able to better understand what her blood looks like when she has a sickle cell crisis. It's amazing what visuals can do and how much fun you can make something medical by using items that kids see regularly. We do this daily to explain all kinds of diagnoses and break it down for them so they can cope better and understand why we have to draw blood or give them medicine.
We talk to siblings to explain why their new baby brother or sister is connected to tubes and machines and prepare them for what they will see the first time they enter their hospital room. We break down the new diagnosis of cancer, diabetes, seizure disorders, crohn's disease, etc. We explain it in kid-friendly terms so it's not as scary and then we explain how we will be treating their disease. We don't lie. We are truth tellers that want to be transparent with the kids. We are the ones that answer questions like "am I dying?" when we're asked (with parent permission) so they can be prepared for death if their disease is not curable. We use special dolls that have anatomically correct parts to explain a VCUG or barium enema because it's scary to have a doctor you don't know put a catheter in an area you've been told all your life is "private". We are the hand holders for the little ones and for the big ones. We are the support for parents who have a child who is so sick they are sedated on ventilators in the PICU and we don't know what the outcome will be. These are just a few examples of the things we do.
You see we have A LOT of hats and we are trained to wear each one of them. Whether we're dancing around the room singing a song with a patient, holding someones hand while they get a poke or pressing tiny feet into a mold to make a memory for the parent to take home because they won't be taking their baby home; we do this regularly because it makes the patient and families stay at the hospital a little easier. The hospital can be an intimidating place and our job is to help ease that fear and also tell them it's okay for them to be scared because it can be scary!
Now that's in the hospital but child life is branching out to other disciplines like in pediatrician offices, dentists, hospice, etc. These places all have a specialty in what child life does but a lot of it is the same general idea. We can provide procedural support, bereavement support, diagnosis education, therapeutic play and support to patients, siblings and parents. If you know of a child that is going to be hospitalized that you work with outside of the hospital reach out of the hospital they are going to be at and almost all children's hospital have a child life program. If you contact the department they will give you the child life specialists contact information that will be working with that child so they can better help them cope with their hospitalization.
We also work very closely with other disciplines! We collaborate with PT, OT and ST to encourage patients to complete their therapy. I've had numerous times I will join a physical therapist to encourage a patient to walk around the unit and move their bodies the way they ask by using play along the way. It could be a scavenger hunt, a trip to the toy chest or a sticker chart to encourage each lap they walk. I work closely with social work to gather information about families and their needs to provide a better hospital experience. Sometimes social workers get the reputation of only being present if somethings wrong with the family but this is so far from the truth. They help with so much more and can also be a support for the family. We also work with psychologists. They can also be seen as having an agenda and maybe that anorexic patient won't admit they don't want to eat because their friends call them fat but if the child life specialist goes in they don't necessarily see them as someone with an agenda. We can hang out and talk about what's bothering them to get down to the bottom of it and then also bring up the staff around us, like the psychologists, and explain they are here to help not hurt and they can talk to them the same way they talk to us. These are just a few examples of ways I've collaborated with staff but I'm sure it changes from each area of the hospital and each discipline. We also regularly work with the nurses and doctors daily. We can also work with school teachers inside and outside of the hospital. If a child is returning to school and has an ostomy bag or is going to be losing their hair because of chemotherapy we've had those circumstances and can come talk to the class to help them better understand what their classmate is going through and then we can help bring the child back into the school without feeling "different". After their world was just turned upside down the one place they want to feel normal is at school.
As I wrote this post I realized just how much we do and it can be confusing! If you have any specific questions about child life specialists and what we do please reach out. I'm always happy to speak with anyone about how we can assist other people in their specialties.