2024 Volume 28 Issue 2 – Page 2 – Family Science Association

Child Life through the Lens of Family Stress Theory and Family Systems Theory

Annie N. Insley, Child Life, Prisma Health Children's Hospital - Midlands
Erika N. Sheaffer, Child Life, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Abstract

Certified Child Life Specialists are an integral part of the healthcare team, who address children and families’ psychosocial needs and help children and families cope throughout their healthcare experiences. The history of child life, description of the interventions provided by Certified Child Life Specialists, and educational preparation needed for child life certification will be discussed. Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) use family science theories in their interventions with patients and families. Two of the family science theories that influence assessments and interventions are family stress theory (Boss, 1988; Hill, 1949; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983) and family systems theory (Smith & Hamon, 2022). Certified Child Life Specialists utilize these theories to provide support to families and create resources for positive coping and adjustment to their hospital experience. These theories will be discussed, and case studies will be examined to illustrate how Certified Child Life Specialists integrate these theories into their practice.

Child Life in Practice: Applying Theories in the Emergency Department and on a Pediatric Unit

DOI: 10.26536/GFGC1591

Karin Rourke, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Western Michigan University
Jou-Chen Chen, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Western Michigan University
Karen Blaisure, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Western Michigan University

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Abstract

Certified child life specialists (CCLS) serve as an integral component of the health care team by attending to the psychosocial concerns that arise as children and their families face stressful situations. The CCLS provides individualized care to meet the developmental needs of infants, children, teens, and young adults and assists in coping with medical-related stressors, using play as a main healing modality. As they engage, assess, and educate, CCLS use play for therapeutic purposes and provide education to children and their families regarding diagnosis, treatments, procedures or tests needed, strategies for coping and managing pain, and the medical environment. In this article, two theories and one process that help guide the work of the CCLS are applied in a scenario: Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005), Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional theory of stress and coping, and the APIE process (Wilson et al., 2006). CCLS use theory to assess, plan, and provide appropriate interventions to promote optimal care of patients.