Child Life Program Outpatient Care |
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Preparation for surgery and procedures
To help reduce fears and anxieties, child life specialists prepare children and their families for surgery
through medical preparation and play.
Medical preparation and play allow children to familiarize themselves with the surgery experience by looking
at educational books, touching and playing with actual medical equipment and talking one-on-one with the
child life specialist.
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Distraction items such as pinwheels, bubbles, "I Spy" books and stress balls are used to help children practice coping
and relaxation techniques. When children are able to cope with stressful situations they encounter in the hospital,
they experience a sense of mastery or competence — "I did it!"
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Shadow Buddies/Homemade Dolls
Child life specialists use special dolls, called Shadow Buddies and Homemade Dolls, to help children identify with and relate to what is happening to them. Both dolls help children understand their illness better and help clear up any fantasies or misconceptions through medical preparation and play. They are designed to be a "special friend" for the child undergoing surgery or a procedure.
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Shadow Buddies are dressed in surgical/procedural clothing, are gender friendly and available in three
skin tones with different hair colors. The Homemade Dolls are stitched, sewn and stuffed by a group of
St. John's volunteers, called Samaritans. Children can relate to and identify with these dolls by drawing
a face and/or clothes on them.
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Procedural Support
The Child Life Specialist helps staff prepare, distract and support children in the surgical area. This procedural
support includes educating children in an age-appropriate manner, along with their family, and using different coping
techniques, such as deep breathing, squeezing stress balls, music, counting and guided imagery.
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Individual Pre-Operative Tours
Because hospitalization and/or surgery can be a stressful and frightening experience, individual pre-operative tours, called surgical discovery tours, are available. These sessions give children and their family an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the hospital and medical equipment that may be used during the child's hospital stay. Children and family members are encouraged to ask any questions they may have about the "surgery day."
For information regarding the pre-operative syrgical discovery tours contact Susan Spears, CCLS at (217) 544-6464, ext. 44625.
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