Child Life in Alternative Settings

Abstract

The Child Life Council Mission statement highlights the role of a child life specialist as supporting children in stressful or traumatic life situations. Child life specialists are professionals who have an important role in providing support to hospitalized children, but their role can expand to various settings beyond the hospital. Expansion of child life professionals into alternative settings is a growing concept and thus how this is accomplished is not as clearly defined as compared with child life specialists in the hospital setting. Literature thus far on child life specialists in alternative settings is limited, but this project includes a thorough literature review highlighting various settings as well as possible areas of needed improvement. The project also highlights an exploration of teaching students about the expanding role of child life and the perspectives of child life professionals in alternative settings including the NICU, child advocacy center, camp, and early intervention. The roles of a co-teaching student are highlighted as well as a reflection of the experience. Interviews were conducted with five child life professionals who have worked for multiple years in an alternative setting. Each specialist was interviewed at their respective work places and each was asked the same basic set of questions to allow for a clear comparison of their responses. A multiple day observation of two of these child life specialists during their normal work day was completed to help provide a further understanding of their role. Through these interviews and observations, multiple similarities between the experiences and skills required of these professionals were found.