Facilitating play for hospitalized children through child life services

To minimize the anxiety associated with medical visits, health care facilities employ certified child life specialists. Child life specialists promote typical development and minimize the stress and anxiety of hospitalized children and their families by providing (a) opportunities for normalization, (b) specific information regarding their hospitalization, and (c) therapeutic activities. Play has been found to help children cope with stressors, such as a hospitalization, because it allows them to express their fears and anxieties in a manageable way. The 3 most common types of play used by child life specialists in the hospital setting (i.e., normative play, medical play, and therapeutic play) and their benefits are discussed in this review of the literature examining the importance of play for hospitalized children.