Child Life Specialists in the ECE setting
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While child life is now considered well established in healthcare facilities, there are many other settings, situations, and populations where a child can experience stress and trauma and are not limited to this traditional settings. Through the update of the mission and vision, the Child Life Council was able to recognize that a variety of other populations can benefit from the field and work of child life (Child Life Council, 2002). These populations include all areas where children and families find themselves coping with challenging or overwhelming situations, and focus on communities where children and families may be dealing with traumatic life events, or are adjusting to new life experiences.
Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) posses a particular skill set and professional competencies that are transferable to other environments where children and families are served. These include assessment, developmental knowledge, assisting with coping, psychological preparation and education, social-emotional support, family-centered care, as well as recognizing the value of play (Child Life Council).
Child life specialists’ professional competencies and skill sets are useful in other professional fields where children and families are served such as early childhood education settings. For example, CCLS have a background and are well versed in child development and attachment theories such as those of Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Gessel, Freud, Bowlby, and Ainsworth, to name a few. Developmental theories influence the work of CCLS as much as it does ECE teachers and administrators when planning educational activities and assessing children’s progress. Additionally, just as much as ECE educators are experienced in observing children, assessing their personal development, and using this information for future planning, CCLS are capable of doing the same with the added benefit of clinical intervention skills to address developmental issues such as behavioral concerns and the promotion of positive peer interaction (Hicks & Sweeney, 2008).
CCLS recognize the value of play, which is at the core of ECE. Since CCLS are armed with a strong child development background, they can use play to psychologically prepare children for potentially stressful events such as a medical procedure, separation anxiety, parents’ divorce, the death of a loved one, or being separated from their families. Through play, CCLS guide children through the various phases and mechanisms of play according to their developmental needs, which offers children control and mastery of their own experiences (Jessee & Gaynard, 2009). Additionally, CCLS can prepare children for upcoming medical/dental visits and procedures through the use of medical and dental play. Medical play can serve as a vehicle for children to cope with stressful medical experiences and attain control through the creation of stories with positive outcomes where the characters in such stories overcome painful medical experiences (Clark, 2003). Children’s retelling of their medical experiences through personal stories while playing can help in processing their medical experiences and feelings of distress.
Further, CCLS can assist ECE educators and administrators in designing age-appropriate play spaces. When designing these spaces, CCLS give careful consideration to family-centered care by creating environments that are safe, educational, healing, and therapeutic to children and their families. As demonstrated, CCLS do not only see and understand play as a mode of learning but also as a way to heal for the child and the family as a whole.
Another way a CCLS can positively impact an ECE setting is by offering school reintegration services such as classroom presentations on a particular illness. A school visit can help eliminate common fears and misconceptions of peers and teachers and encourage an environment of support for a child who is facing a stressful situation due to a chronic illness such as childhood diabetes or a life-threatening illness such as cancer. School reintegration demonstrations are customized depending on the child and classroom’s needs. School demonstrations are conducted to educate children in an age-appropriate and interactive way, about illness, injury, or medical device. These classroom demonstrations help alleviate both the stress associated with re-entering daily school routines and the burden of communicating and fielding questions from other classmates. Furthermore, research shows that strategies such as informing children of their peer’s injury (or illness) and what to expect, encourages the classmates’ empathy and understanding of the situation (Wilson, Gaskell, & Murray, 2014). Similarly, school visits ensure that teachers are provided with support and information before the child’s return to school, during the actual school return, and continued communication post-return (Wilson, Gaskell, & Murray, 2014).
Lastly, CCLS also provide education on children’s stress and trauma issues to teachers, administrators and other community members including parents. Training topics can vary depending on the needs of a particular child, ECE center and teacher. Some of the topics include: What is Child Life? How to support students after hospitalization? What is medical and dental play? How to promote your child’s coping skills? And Grief and Loss. These are just a few of the training a CCLS can provide to other professionals and families to support children in the school environment.
In our next post we will explore how child life specialists can help children overcome anxiety and fear through dental play when visiting the dentist.
Until next time,
-Yeni
References
Brown, A. (2008). The school setting. In M. Hicks (Ed.), Child life beyond the hospital (pp. 213-232). Arlington, Virginia: Child Life Council, Inc.
Child Life Council. (2002). Official documents of the Child Life Council.Rockville, MD: Child Life Council, Inc.
Clark, C.D. (2003). In sickness and in play: Children coping with chronic illness. Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
Hicks, M. & Sweeney, K. (2008). Camp Programs. In M. Hicks (Ed), Child Life Beyond the Hospital (pp. 33-43). Arlington, Virginia: Child Life Council, Inc.
Jessee, P.O. & Gaynard, L. (2018). Paradigms of Play. In H. R. Thompson (Ed), The Handbook of Child Life: A Guide for Pediatric Psychological Care (2nded). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Wilson, H.M.N, Gaskell, S.L., & Murray, C.D. (2014). A qualitative study of teachers’ experiences of a school reintegration programme for young children following a burn injury. Journal of the International Society of Burn Injuries, 40, 1345-1352.
