Abstract
This work contains a narrative review of the effects of different types of play in the well-being of hospitalized children. For this purpose, the literature highlighting the evidence that supports the use of different types of play to improve children's hospitalization experience was analyzed. These types of play are medical games, playing with dolls, puppets, or marionettes, playing with pets, and digital or video-games. All of them can improve children's experience of hospitalization. Despite everything, children can play a lot of things in the hospital, and recreational resources make important contributions to hospitalized children's well-being. Play is children's right, also in the hospital, and is a particularly important resource to improve the care that pediatric patients receive in health institutions.
Highlights
Play is expressly recognized as a right of children by the international organizations responsible for children’s protection
The parents of the children in the experimental group were instructed to play with their children in the postoperative period, and specific play material was provided for this purpose
The analysis of the results showed a significant difference in the anxiety scores between the children in the control group and the experimental group, with lower anxiety levels in the latter
Summary
Of play for the care of hospitalized children. Rae et al [9] conducted a study designed to assess the effect on the psychosocial adjustment of hospitalized children of different types of verbal support and play, comparing four intervention levels: a) standard care without any special intervention; b) play activities (normal games like puzzles, card games, etc.; c) discussion and information without play; and d) play therapy, consisting of undirected play that included a reflection and interpretation of the children’s feelings about their experience in the hospital. In a quasi-experimental study [11] attempted to confirm the hypothesis that, if children received interventions based on play during their hospital stay, they would exhibit fewer negative emotions and lower anxiety levels compared with children who received the usual care. Children in the control group received standard medical treatment and nursing while in the hospital, whereas the experimental group received play interventions, developed by a play specialist in the hospital for 30 minutes each day during their stay. These interventions were activities designed to psychologically prepare children for hospitalization according to their levels of psychological and cognitive development and their health problems. We will review the available evidence supporting the use of these types of play to improve children’ experience of hospitalization
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