Psychosocial Care for Paediatric Patients in Hospitals
Psychosocial care for children and their families is also provided for paediatric patoents in the hospitals, at home, and at Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice. The psychocosical care for children and their families in hospitals are led by hospital based Child Life Specialists and Play Leaders.
Child Life Specialists and Play Leaders deliver Child Life Programmes in the hospitals to support children and their families undergoing difficult and stressful hospital experiences and hospitalisation through child life, therapeutic play services, and expressive therapies. Music therapy services are also offered to children in the hospital. Music therapy services provides children optimal care by integrating music based interventions to assist in a patient’s developmental, rehabilitative, emotional and psychological well-being, during all stages of treatment.
Child Life
Child Life Programmes are led by Child Life Specialists who are supported by trained and supervised Play Leaders. The Child Life Specialist uses play, the universal language of children, to help them express their emotions, understand their illnesses and treatments and learn coping strategies to deal with unknown and sometimes frightening healthcare experiences in the hospital.
They offer a variety of services that include:
- Promoting normal growth and development through play
- Preparing children for medical procedures through the use of images, real medical equipment, and developmentally appropriate language
- Providing psychosocial support during medical procedures by helping children develop coping strategies
- Facilitating therapeutic play, art, and self-expression experiences
- Supporting children and their families in understanding their illness and hospitalisation
- Advocating for children and their families as they navigate the healthcare environment
- Encouraging non-pharmacological pain strategies (cognitive and behavioural strategies) to support reducing pain for children
- Promoting patient and family centred care
- Providing sibling support
- Providing grief and bereavement support to patients and their families when needed
Play
Play Leaders are professionals who work with the Child Life Specialists to promote and facilitate developmentally appropriate play for children in the hospitals in the KACCH playrooms, outpatient clinics, waiting rooms and at bedside.
Our Hospital Child Life Programmes
- Amiri Hospital (general hospital): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 14 and 15, Outpatients Department, and Casualty.
- Farwaniya Hospital (general hospital): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 5,6,7 and 8, Outpatients Department, and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Music therapy services are provided to patients and their families once a week by the BACCH Music Therapist.
- Jahra Hospital (general hospital): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 7A and 7B (new building), and ward 31 old paediatric building. Music therapy services are provided to patients and their families once a week by the BACCH Music Therapist.
- Jaber Al Ahmad Hospital (general hospital): Child Life and play services are provided in the Out Patients Department and Ward 1.
- NBK Children’s Hospital (oncology and hematology): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 1,2,3, Outpatients Department, Stem Cell Transplant Unit, Day Case, and referrals from Intensive Care Unit.
- Ibn Sina Hospital (paediatric surgery): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 1 and 6, Al-Babtain Burns Centre and Paediatric Day-Case Surgery.
- Al Razi Hospital (orthopedics): Child Life and play services are provided in Paediatric Wards 1 and 2, Outpatients Department and Day Case Surgical Department.
Request Child Life and Play Services
To obtain KACCH Child Life and Play services, please contact, Mary Dempsey, KACCH Hospital Programs Supervsior mary.dempsey@kacch.org or call 2227-6989.