Child life services: Helping children and families cope with their hospital stay

Certified child life specialists are trained clinicians who focus on a patient and family’s emotional safety during medical experiences, aiming to promote empowerment, understanding and reduce the possibility of medical trauma. Certified child life specialists help with:

• Education/preparation – Educate patients and families in developmentally appropriate ways about experiences in the hospital.

• Coping with procedures and hospitalizations – Create coping plans that include preparation, distraction, comfort positions, normalization and play to reduce the negative impact of hospitalization on a child’s development.

• Play – Use play as a tool for children to learn about and process through their experiences in the hospital.

• Sibling support – Help siblings of ill children understand their sibling’s diagnosis and prepare them for visits.

• Family-centered care – An illness to a child impacts the whole family, and our model of care supports the whole family as they cope through a hospital experience.

Our child life assistants offer opportunities for play and normalization in the hospital. They provide bedside activities, playroom activities and special events to make sure kids continuing learning and developing in the hospital.

Music is naturally engrained across various cultural affiliations, and the life span of all developmental ages. It can also access multiple areas of the brain simultaneous and therefore, can be inherently healing. Music therapy is an evidenced-based practice that uses individualized assessment and treatment plan to address a variety of your child’s goals, including:

• Reducing stress and anxiety

• Decreasing pain perception

• Promote memory/legacy making

• Normalizing the environment

• Promote development

• Enhancing self-expression

• Supporting functional motor, cognitive, or speech skills

• Improving mood

• Alternate engagement during medical procedures

• Promote family connection and bonding

• Promoting autonomy

Music therapy sessions can vary from passively listening to actively creating and may include:

• Playing instruments

• Songwriting

• Singing

• Music for relaxation

• Listen and talking about music

• Creating playlists

• Moving or dancing to music

• Creating recordings

• Learning a new instrument

About our music therapist

Music therapists are trained health care professionals designated by the credential MT-BC. Music therapy is a bachelors entry level position from an accredited university, with six-month full time internship and board certification exam. Others may pursue additional education with masters or doctoral in music therapy as well. For more information about music therapy education visit American Music Therapy Association or Certification Board for Music Therapists.

Our cosmetologist that works in our positive image center works with your child to ease anxiety about appearance-altering conditions, treatments or procedures. Services include:

• Haircuts for patients experience hair loss or extended hospitalization

• Guidance for coping with hair loss, including wig fitting/applications, hats and head coverings

• Wig cutting and styling

• Temporary hair color – hair chalk/spray (removed after one wash) or clip in extensions

• EEG glue removal, hair detangling and washing

• Braiding and hair styling to prevent tangles

• Nail filing, polish and nail art sticker application

• Temporary tattoos

Through partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District, school teachers help children in 4K through high school keep up with their school work while in the hospital.

Our facility dogs are expertly trained canines who are partnered with staff handlers to assist with goal-orientated interventions that address the physical and psychosocial needs of patients and families.

Caring Canines is our volunteer therapy dog program that provides normalization and social visits for patients and families with certified therapy dogs.

We provide space and programming where siblings of ill children can interact with other siblings. If you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment with Tyler’s Place, please call (608) 890-8037.

We have many friendly volunteers who interaction and play with patients and provide support to families.

We offer a child life internship for aspiring child life specialists. Please visit the career page to learn more about our child life internship.