Camp Quality aims to provide accurate, helpful and trustworthy information for families. Read our publishing standards.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it’s an emotional journey for the entire family. Amid medical treatments, hospital visits, and the upheaval of everyday life, maintaining a sense of normalcy and emotional wellbeing can feel overwhelming.
Child Life Therapy provides numerous benefits that positively impact a child’s emotional and psychological well-being.
Some of these include:
Reduced anxiety during treatment
Medical procedures and hospital stays can be intimidating for children. Child Life Therapists use preparation techniques, medical play, and relaxation strategies to help children feel more comfortable and less fearful about treatments and procedures.
Improved communication and coping skills
By providing age-appropriate explanations of medical procedures and diagnoses, Child Life Therapists help children better understand their experiences. They also teach coping strategies, such as deep breathing or guided imagery, to help children manage pain and anxiety.
Strengthened emotional bonds with family and caregivers
A cancer diagnosis affects the entire family. Child Life Therapy fosters stronger family connections by involving parents, siblings, and caregivers in therapeutic play and activities. This shared experience enhances emotional support and strengthens family resilience.
Positive impact on mental health and wellbeing
Children facing serious illnesses are at risk of emotional distress, including fear, sadness, and frustration. Child Life Therapy provides emotional support, encourages self-expression, and helps children develop a sense of mastery over their medical experiences. This support contributes to better mental health and overall well-being.
Background
S is an 8-year-old girl who was diagnosed with leukemia four months ago. Before her diagnosis, S had been nervous around medical procedures, which has made her oncology journey particularly challenging. One of her biggest struggles has been her fear of needles, which has affected her ability to cope with treatment. Child Life Therapy worked closely with S to provide support through play, procedural preparation, education, and empowerment.
Challenges
A particularly difficult moment occurred during a recent clinic admission when S needed a port dressing change. The cleaning solution used caused intense stinging pain, leading to tears, frustration, and increased resistance.
Intervention
After the procedure, the Child Life Therapist engaged S in a reflective discussion to explore what strategies might work better in the future. During this conversation, it became evident that S had been role-playing port changes with her siblings at home – a self-initiated coping strategy that allowed her to process her experiences in a safe and familiar environment.
After assessment, Child Life Therapy engaged the therapeutic value of play, providing S with a doctor’s kit and real medical supplies, including sample dressings, a cleaning solution, and a dressing change kit. This allowed her to continue engaging in medical play at home, reinforcing her understanding of the process while helping her feel a sense of control.
Outcomes
Through connection, play, and advocacy, S has transformed her medical experiences from distressing moments into opportunities for empowerment and learning. By engaging in medical play, she has gained a greater sense of control over her treatment, reducing her anxiety and enhancing her ability to cope. This case highlights the power of play as a therapeutic tool in paediatric healthcare, reinforcing the essential role of Child Life Therapy in supporting children through their medical journeys.
Bringing child life therapy techniques into the home can be incredibly beneficial for helping children process emotions, build coping skills, and feel more secure in their environment.
Camp Quality is one of the major funders of Child Life Therapy positions in Australia currently funding Child Life Therapist roles at Monash Children’s Hospital (Vic.), Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne (Vic.), John Hunter Children’s Hospital (Newcastle, NSW), The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (NSW) and Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick (NSW).
Camp Quality’s Kids’ Guide to Cancer is a great help when it comes to talking to kids about their diagnosis in a way that’s reassuring, and in language they understand and includes games and videos to make learning about cancer fun.
Digital Puppet Playdates are almost as much fun as the real thing! Fully customised interactions with the Camp Quality Puppets increase laughter, reduce anxiety and provide a wonderful distraction from the tedium and torment of cancer treatment.
How to keep kids entertained in hospital
Play gives children something active to do, and building play in particular can help them use their imagination, solve problems, make choices in an environment where many decisions are being made for them, and forget the world around them as they become immersed in something they can feel and see.
The power of resilience
Resilience is our ability to not just bounce back from tough situations, but ‘bounce forward’ with growth and learning. Our levels of resilience get tested from time to time. Thankfully, resilience is a skill that can be developed.
