Child Life Programme

Whether in the hospital, in the emergency room or in a clinic, all children have basic needs that must be met, and these needs may be magnified by illness, injury or loss of the familiar routines of life. Children bring specific developmental needs with them.

They may misinterpret the reason for their hospital admission or specific treatment, or create fantasies about what may occur.To help support these special psychosocial and educational needs, IABCD has certified child life specialists and counselors to help paediatric patients and their families cope with a potentially stressful health care experience. 

Child life services in healthcare settings strive to promote optimum development of children and their families, to maintain normal living patterns and to minimize psychological trauma. Child life staffs provide children opportunities for gaining a sense of mastery, for play, for learning, for self-expression, for family involvement and for peer interaction. 

Child Life Programme Goals 

The goals of the Child Life Programme include: 

• Creating a child-friendly, family-centered environment.

• Providing recreational, therapeutic and medical play opportunities for infants, children and teens.

• Collaborating with the child and family to create a plan of care to best support their identified needs.

• Minimizing anxiety and stress through emotional support, information sharing and coping ……….., such as distraction and imagery.

• Promoting growth and development through normalization of the medical setting.

• Encouraging and enabling parent and family involvement.

Child and family support services

• All services offered to the whole family, completely free of charge.

• A knowledgeable personal guide helping patient and whole family navigate the cancer treatment process, connecting patient to support and services.