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Taking the Fear out of Hospitals
The Role of the Child Life Specialist By Shel Franco
"The most common fears for the 3- to 5-year-old child are separation from the parent or caregiver and pain or anxiety of the unknown," says Colleen Ducke, a child life specialist in Boston, Mass.
In order to alleviate these fears, child life specialists employ a variety of techniques. Ducke explains procedures to children and their families with the help of toys and picture books, depicting hospital admissions, blood draws, IVs, castings, lumbar punctures, suturing, operations, MRIs and CT scans. She adds that the actual medical equipment is on hand and welcomed to be explored.
During the actual procedure, a child life specialist may use different tactics to try and distract the child. Ducke explains that playing music during sutures, reading books during procedures and blowing bubbles during blood draws all help to refocus the child's attention and calm fears.
Another key to lessening a child's anxiety is to increase the feeling of comfort and welcome in the hospital environment. "[Carolyn] took a Polaroid picture of Sarah to put on a poster and filled out all the 'about me' things: foods that she liked and didn't like, favorite TV shows and movies, where she is from, where she goes to school and what grade, where she has traveled, etc." says Turner. "This poster was put up in her room when she arrived for admission."
Turner points out that this type of activity, done by the child life specialist, eases the job of other hospital staff. "[The poster] was helpful to nurses who tried to initiate conversation to take Sarah's mind off a treatment or otherwise interact with her," Turner says.
"Child life specialits are not available in all hospitals, but they are available in many," Ducke says.