Help Children Play!

What is Play?

"Play so that you may be serious …" (Anacharsis c.600 BC)

Play is the main business of children's lives. It is not a peripheral fun activity, but the key to development in many areas. Deprived of play the child is a prisoner, shut off from all that makes life real and meaningful.

Play is one of the ways in which a child develops capacities to deal with the stresses and strains of life as they press upon them. It acts as a safety valve, allowing them to relieve, and often come to terms with fears and anxieties which have become overwhelming.

Play in hospital is essential

Hospitalisation can be very frightening for adults and children. The fantasy world of a child is very active and much of the anxiety they experience comes from the workings of their imaginative mind. It is therefore vitally important that their emotional and psychological needs are cared for. The comforting presence of a parent is the most effective way of dealing with these needs, but not every parent can stay with their child all the time.

A hospital playgroup provides a flexible medium through which the child can be helped over this difficult period in their life. Play specialists with an understanding of children's feelings and an insight into their view of the world can help the child to cope with their illness, their fear of hospital and can also reassure their parents about their normal reactions to these circumstances. Medical staff can use the medium of play to build up relationships with young patients and prepare them for medical or surgical procedures. CHI PlayWell volunteers are convenient play helpers for any hospitals that care for children.

Games which involve domestic play can be used as opportunities to encourage the child to talk about home. Seasonal activities help them to keep in touch with the outside world and group activities give a sense of involvement with the other children on the ward.

It must be borne in mind that a child in hospital may revert to the use of simpler toys and activities to those they are attracted to at home. Their concentration span may also be shorter.

As sick children get better their energy returns. Continued confinement in hospital can be very frustrating. Play staff devise simple, energetic games to alleviate the situation.

The obvious benefit of play in hospital is well and widely recognised. So why is every children's ward not provided with carefully selected toys and games and the skilled personnel to use them to their best advantage?

Play must take place wherever it is needed. A central playroom can be marvellous for mobile children, providing a change of scenery, but care must be taken that those confined to bed are not deprived of play. The hospital play worker uses their skill to organise play in every situation and checks with the ward staff if any child requires special encouragement.

Outpatient departments, x-ray departments and GP waiting rooms are areas where children are often faced with a long wait. In the absence of play staff, books, colouring materials and simple games will help to shorten a time of apprehension.

Healthcare is more than tending to bodily needs - the mental and emotional must also be looked after. Play should be an integral part of a child's hospital stay. Those of us who care about children must insist on the provision of proper play schemes and trained play specialists to implement them.

The following are some of the recommendations from the CHI research report on Play Facilities in Irish Hospitals. These recommendations have been endorsed in the Government's National Play Policy, Ready, Steady Play!

Recommendation 1:

All wards where children are nursed should have a play area or playroom on or near the ward, open during the day, evenings and weekends. The playroom must be safe for use by children and their parents, in the absence of play staff.

Recommendation 2:

Play facilities should be available in all areas where children and adolescents are admitted and treated. In the outpatient and Accident and Emergency departments, the services of a play specialist should be available as required and a play area designated away from adult waiting areas.

Recommendation 3:

Ideally, supervised play should be available for a minimum of thirty-five hours a week during normal working hours and, if possible, be extended to evenings, weekends and holiday periods.

If you would like to help children play in hospitals and support CHI work, please contact our team.

You can also download The Hospital Playlink - Play in Hospital…Everywhere! series here