The Child Life professional's role is to promote family-centered care and to help children and their families adapt to being in a medical setting. Child Life professionals are trained in the areas of child and family development, counseling, psychology and education. Child Life professional helps a patient understand the hospital experience through medical play. Hospitalization, illness and injury can be stressful events for children and their families. Children frequently feel overwhelmed, confused, frightened and as if they have no control.
Parents often feel helpless when their child is in pain or sick.
This feeling that they have no input into their own daily lives often results in stress for both the child and the family. Children also frequently have difficulty identifying and expressing feelings, especially fear and anxiety. They tend to understand and express these feelings differently than adults do. Children communicate through non-verbal means, especially when they are distressed. For example, the child may express his fear or anger through play and art rather than talking about it.