Wow, I'm really suprised that therapeutic play in hospital and the community was not covered in this module.

I work of play specialists is normally key to children being able to access any health provision. As if children show anxiety they may not being able to take part in procedure, which means their only way of accessing this would be with the assistance of a play specialist.

A Department of Health document which was released in 2003 called "The National Service Framework for Children" explains that “Children visiting or staying in hospital have a basic need for play and recreation that should be met routinely in all hospital departments providing a service to children. This applies equally to the siblings of patients, and so is also a consideration for neonatal units. Play may also be used for therapeutics purposes, as part of the child’s care plan, and as a way of helping the child to: assimilate new information; adjust to and gain control over a potentially frightening environment; and prepare to cope with procedures and interventions. There is evidence that play hastens recovery, as well as reducing the need for interventions to be delivered under general anaesthesia.

It has been recommended that all children staying in hospital have daily access to a play specialist. The use of play techniques should be encouraged across the multidisciplinary team caring for children, including in A&E, with play specialist taking a lead in modelling techniques that other staff can then adopt. The team should be able to offer a variety of play interventions to support the child at each stage in his or her journey through the hospital system”.

Maybe you could request that your course leader asks a play specialist to come and do a presentation to your course group. As the play specialists role is to work across all the hospital depts and in the community, I'm sure they could answer all your healthcare related questions. :reading:

Where is your course based, maybe I could help put you in contact with a play specialist in your area who could provide the talk? If that would be of interest?

hattyhar