Abstract
As paediatric patients transition from the hospital environment, there is a lack to programs and supports to assist in this transitional phase. The child life specialist plays a unique role within the interprofessional team of professionals in the hospital. They provide paediatric patients and their families with psychosocial services such as age and developmentally appropriate coping mechanisms. A mixed-method study was conducted through qualitative semi-structured interviews, and a survey to explore how child life managers and frontline child life specialists perceived their role expanding outside of the hospital. five themes emerged from questions asked in the interviews and surveys. These themes include: role perceptions, collaboration with health care professionals, collaboration with school professionals, challenges to collaboration and recommendations for the role expansion. From these five themes, thirteen sub-themes emerged spontaneously. The findings of this research study indicate that there is a consensus from both child life managers and specialists on the value of expanding their role beyond the hospital. although considered an essential service in some hospitals, further steps need to be taken to ensure child life specialists feel that their services are validated in the hospitals.
Highlights
The aim of this study is to look at how child life specialists might expand their services beyond the hospital to the school; it is important to explore the current connections between the two systems
This study suggested that health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, social workers and child life specialists should be among the resources offered to a family in order to ameliorate these impacts
In terms of the online survey, the researcher sent an introductory e-mail with a study profile and the researcher' s contact information to the child life manager, who forwarded it to each child life specialist
Summary
The literature review will begin by examining the impact that childhood illness has on different n1embers of the family. Throughout the course of medical treatment, paediatric patients receive health care services from a variety of professionals These include social workers, doctors, nurses, psychologists and child life specialists who attempt to coordinate care in order to help the child and family cope with managing an illness. Miller (1996) explained that in order to help a child with an illness, a teacher, who is often a short term but stable role model must work in collaboration with the family to ensure a smooth transitional process from school to hospital. As Sexson and MadanSwain (1993) the reintegration process must involve family, educational and medical personnel, so the teacher in the hospital may have already made connections with the community school the child life specialist can provide the medical knowledge on the child's illness. Are there differences between the views of child life specialists and managers? How can these differences be explained? Where might these differences come from?
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Published Version
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