What is a Child Life Specialist?

Child Life Services at Saint Francis Children's Hospital

The child life team works with your child to help them understand and cope with their healthcare experiences. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Procedure Preparation and Support:
  • Age-appropriate procedure preparation: Describing what to expect in age appropriate language including anticipated sensory experiences, medical equipment they might see, length of procedure, reasons for procedure, and expectations of the child’s role during the procedure.
  • Relaxation techniques and Distraction: Developing a plan with the child, caregiver, and medical team to help the child cope well with the procedure. This can include comfort positioning, relaxation techniques, and distraction such as deep breathing, guided imagery, or engaging in a song, tablet game, or video.
• Medical play: Age appropriate therapeutic play giving patients the ability to role-play their medical experiences and pretend to be the doctor or nurse while learning more about their diagnosis or medical procedures.
• New Diagnosis teaching and coping strategies
• Sibling support: Helping siblings know what to expect before visiting their hospitalized sibling. Can include age-appropriate information about medical condition or diagnosis, medical equipment in the room, and coping skills.
• Pill swallowing teaching
• End of Life Support: Age appropriate explanation and support for siblings and patients nearing end of life with focus on family’s beliefs about end of life. Can include memory making opportunities and other resources.
• Normalizing the hospital:
  • Playrooms: Volunteers provide opportunities for play and socialization in playrooms on the units.
  • Bedside play: Patient pals offer bedside play opportunities for patients who cannot leave their room
  • Special Events and Holiday Celebrations
• Medical Camps:
  • Camp STRONG: Saint Francis’ one week summer camp for kids with cancer or heart conditions. For more information about Camp STRONG visit saintfrancis.com/campstrong
  • Camp Cavett: A summer camp opportunity for children facing any chronic or life threatening medical diagnosis. For more information at Camp Cavett, visit https://cavettkids.org

How to Become a Certified Child Life Specialist

Everything you need to know about how to become a Certified Child Life Specialist can be found on the Association of Child Life Professionals’ webpage childlife.org. The Association of Child Life Professionals offers extensive information regarding what a child life specialist does and the education requirements, student trainings, and exam necessary to be certified and begin working as a child life specialist. Saint Francis Children's Hospital does not currently offer any student programs (practicum or internship) or opportunities to shadow a certified child life specialist.

One of the first steps to becoming a child life specialist is gaining experience in the hospital setting as a volunteer. The child life department at Saint Francis offers two ways to volunteer: as a playroom volunteer, providing opportunities for patients to come to the unit playroom and engage in play, art, or being read to; and as a patient pal, offering bedside play opportunities for patients and giving parents an opportunity to step away for a few minutes to get a meal or run to the gift shop. To learn more about volunteering, contact the Saint Francis Volunteer Services department.

Additional Information

For more information on the child life department at Saint Francis Children's Hospital, please contact the child life specialists at 918-502-6333 (internal 2-6333) or via email at [email protected]. For those interested in donating to the child life program or donating toys and items to the children’s hospital, please visit https://www.saintfrancis.com/the-childrens-hospital-foundation/ways-to-help/toy-and-gift-donations