Subject
Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
DateAssessment and Documentation in Child Life
The case study relates to psychosocial scrutiny in the case study of David, a 9-year-old boy, who has been hospitalized for four days. He seems to cope well in his current admission through his involvement in the family library and his engagement with the hospital staff in events such as Bingo, art party and Board game tournament. His parents have always been with him in the hospital with love and much support. This makes him and his parents familiar with the hospital staff. Although he seems to handle his current stay in the hospital so well the probability of his stay in the hospital for additional days to some extent affect him and his family.
His grandfather has become ill. David’s mother has stopped to spend much time with him in care of his grandfather. Consequently, his dad has been left with the task of looking after him after work. Long working days have left his dad so tired and frustrated, but he got to check on his son despite all this. We see him really angry to the extent of yelling at his sick son just because he refused to play with his respiratory treatments. The breathing therapist excuses him and is left playing with David until the father comes down. Evidently, the nurse spends a personalized interaction time with him during the day. There calls for a critical need for continual emotional support to the patient. The therapist steps up in encouraging and help David take his breathing treatments in the absence of his father.
Therefore, there is a need to understand that patients families don’t need to be tough at the patient all the time. Actually, no time should a patient be coerced or yelled at by an attendant. It is necessary to have a unique way to encourage the uptake of medical procedures and treatments. It should be patient-centered. In this case, David may have needed a little encouragement from the father so he would stop playing for the treatment. The father’s approach of yelling at him may not have been the best.
Additionally, David could be in question as to why his mother is not coming to spend time with him often as before, and this calls for a transparent explanation from the dad. David psychosocial engagements may have significantly contributed to why he did not want to take the respiratory treatments. It is therefore important to asses and prepare children for any particular procedure; however complicated, they might be. Preparation programs increase the patient’s awareness and readiness to uptake the treatment or procedure. It involves giving progressive information to the child as well as listening to their take on it; this should be followed by encouraging the child and promoting perception on the pediatric care providers. It varies from the age, personality and coping skills of the child, on the procedure, negative implications such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety as well as decreased cooperative behaviors.
Instead of David’s father coming to yell at his son at the hospital, the reasons as to why his mother does not visit him often should have been explained. In this way, he would have engaged, empowered and educated David. Child variables such as age, personality, ability to cope with new situations etc.
Child life support is an excellent tool in enhancing a child’s welfare as he/she grows. The child’s specialist is the central part between the child and the caregivers. This tri-bond interaction builds and maintaining relationships of families and patients as well as building their trust for the pediatric specialists and healthcare providers. It involves interviews by health specialists. It consists of the start at creating rapport to the end where the child is accorded proper treatment. The child’s life support reveals the relationship between the patient and the caregivers in the fact that short term relationships are more casual and quick.
Child life support builds the patient and their families relationships eventually uniting them to a mutual feeling of contributing to all developments of their lives. It increases health, treatment and other related programs policy awareness to both the patient and their families. It allows children and their families to reveal their past experiences and assess the level of understanding and potential misconceptions as they are addressed appropriately. It also enhances positive coping skills and follow-up.
Works Cited
Hollon, Ellen, and Linda Skinner. “Assessment and documentation in child life.” The handbook of child life: A guide for pediatric psychosocial care (2009): 116-135.
