Children still need to play and need to know what is going to happen to them when they are here. The Child Life Specialist is a member of the Children s Center staff who has specialized training in growth and development and children s responses to hospitalization. Health care is not an event that is familiar to a child's everyday routine and can be really scary. No matter how well the staff does their jobs, the people who work at Mother Frances are not the child s parents, the hospital bed is not like the one at home, and places, people and equipment here are unfamiliar and frightening. With the help of the Child Life Program, hospitalization does not have to be an event a child or family fears.
Children have different concerns in each stage of development.
They need to know why they are going to the hospital and what will happen to them. If they don t know or understand what will happen to them in age appropriate language, it is left to their imagination. After preparation, kids have more trust of parents and hospital staff and have a better experience. What children don t know can be scarier than what they do. The Child Life Specialist will explain to children and their families admitted to the Children s Center about the hospital environment, illness, surgery, and any procedure, using developmentally appropriate tools to which children can relate such as picture books, special anatomically correct dolls, medical equipment, and language a child understands.