Exploring the Power of Play in Healthcare

By Nicky Everett, Cath Hubbuck, Fraser Brown

This reflective book delves into the developmental benefits and therapeutic healing properties of play in aiding a child’s healthcare journey. It expands and enhances the knowledge base underlying the practice of play in hospitals, showcasing the critical role of health play specialists and child life specialists.

Understanding the Role of Play in Healthcare

Play is the foundation of everything in a child’s life, providing a safe and natural space for them to grow and develop. It is essential for healthcare practitioners to understand the theory that underpins practice, as it allows them to prepare children for procedures with skill and precision. This understanding is built on an acceptance of both child development and the impact of traumatic experiences, enabling practitioners to face children’s deepest fears and biggest emotions without flinching.

The Breadth and Depth of Play in Healthcare Settings

This book explores the breadth, depth, and skills of trained healthcare practitioners providing play for babies, children, young people, and adults. It places the power of play squarely at the centre of most clinical settings, highlighting its importance in paediatric practice. The book features a combination of reflective essays, case study chapters from the UK and around the world, and the newly emerging use of play in diverse settings.

A Valuable Resource for Healthcare Practitioners

Drawing on the collective work of over 30 play specialists, child life specialists, play service managers, lecturers, and researchers, this book is unique in all it offers to paediatric practitioners and settings, in training and in practice. It is an important resource for healthcare play specialists, playworkers, children’s nurses, occupational therapists, and more.

Product Details:

Publisher: Routledge; 1st edition (April 10, 2023)

Language: English

Pages: 310

ISBN-10: 1032186259

ISBN-13: 978-1032186252