Imagine you are 3 years old. You have a really bad pain in your tummy, which won’t go away, and now your mommy has said the doctors need to take some of your blood to test. “Taking” some blood does not sound good at all, and what if they take all the blood out and don’t give it back? The thought is so scary the child begins to panic.
Now imagine you are the parent of the panicking child – maybe you’ve been there, I know I have. I did what most parents do under the circumstances, panic right along with the child.
There’s Another Way
Tricia Hiller, a certified child life specialist and director of the Child Life & Creative Arts Therapy Program of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, wants you to know there is a solution to your child’s (and maybe your) medical fear and anxiety. Her role, which she describes as “a cross between social work and nursing,” involves using child-development-based psychology and medical knowledge to help children and their families face what can be stressful health care experiences. Hiller and her staff of three child life specialists plus a board-certified art and board-certified music therapist help children cope through preparation, play, education and self-expression activities. “Research has shown that it is the fear of the unknown that is so disturbing to a youngster facing medical procedures,” says Hiller. “Preparation can make the experience less scary and help the child cope better.”
Play is the Norm
Hiller says that normalizing the hospital environment is an important part of a child life specialist’s job. “For a child, play is normal, so we treat them as normal kids who have a natural need to play,” she says.
Children looking forward to wearing their Halloween costume get the chance to do that at hospital Halloween events. Playing doctor or nurse with a doll and a child life specialist can clue the staff in on the child’s fears. Then the specialists can use other play techniques and interventions to help resolve those anxieties.
Music and art activities can also serve as diversions so that a child spends less time focusing on unpleasant thoughts and more time exploring their imagination in a positive and creative way. Both music and art therapy play can also serve as a means of healthy self-expression.
Helping Families Too
Hiller’s team also reaches out to family members and helps them cope as well. “We offer emotional support, help them understand what their child is going through, as well as educate them on ways that they can help communicate what is happening at the hospital with a sibling at home,” says Hiller. Let’s say a child is admitted for an appendectomy, at home a sibling might have fought fiercely with the sick child the day before. In normal child-like thinking the youngster at home now believes that the argument is the cause of the sibling’s distress. Knowing how to reassure the child at home can be helpful to all concerned.
“It’s also so important for parents to take care of themselves when they are facing medical situations with their child,” says Hiller. Sometimes that is easier said than done. “Parents are often plagued with guilt and need to be encouraged to take care of themselves so they can in turn take care of their child,” says Hiller.
Hiller also says that her team tries to teach parents that one of the most important things they can do is be honest with their child. “Some parents might tell the child that they are going to McDonald’s and then they wind up here at the hospital,” says Hiller. What seems like a good idea at the time only puts off the inevitable truth and causes more distress.
“A child life specialist can help parents find age-appropriate ways to calm, reassure and prepare a child – and themselves for that matter – for what might be unexpected or chronic medical interventions,” says Hiller. F
Jean Sheff is editor of Westchester Family.
