Child Life Certification Exam.
A CLS who encourages patients and families to be experts of their own family practice is building the
foundation for
culturally competent and spiritually supportive care
As members of the healthcare team, how do child life specialists accurately and consistently share
assessment information and care plans with other healthcare team members?
documentation
Components of assessment
information from the family, information from the child, and information from the healthcare team
Kubler-Ross's stages of grief
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
culture shock
results when a series of disorienting encounters occur in which an individual's basic values, beliefs,
and patterns of behavior are challenged by a different set of values, beliefs, and behaviors
Cross cultural competency can be demonstrated by
managing culture shock
Various Models of Assessment
1. Stress Potential Assessment Process
2. Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
3. Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
4. Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
Stress Potential Assessment Process
- encourages the CLS to formulate a care plan based on the consideration of 3 categories of
information: healthcare, family, and child variables
- CLS then assigns a stress potential rating (1 to 5)
- draws upon knowledge of child development and family systems functioning with added healthcare
stressors to assign a rating
- developed by Gaynard (1998)
Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
- formal screening tool to assess a patient's risk for coping during a particular intervention or
healthcare encounter
- assigns a risk level based on empirical evidence using eight variables that closely correlate with the
potential for negative outcomes during healthcare encounters
Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
- provides specific criteria for assessing patients and prioritizing their needs, and delineates forms of
child life intervention that address the identified needs of the individual.
,- begins w/ consideration of critical psychosocial variables (9) that have been found to predict
psychological upset in children experiencing healthcare
Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
- formal assessment that has been validated in infant, toddler, and preschool versions, and includes
assessment of multiple domains: cognitive, language, gross motor, fine motor, social-emotional, self-
help, regulatory, and sensory.
- relies heavily on parent report
Documentation of a child life intervention in a patient healthcare record should be considered
an extension of the intervention that is necessary to regard it as complete
Types of coping techniques/strategies
sensory, cognitive, behavioral
sensory coping strategies
rely on sound, touch, or movement to enhance the child's coping capacities
types of sensory coping strategies
- positioning (comfort hold, swaddling)
- movement (rocking or patting)
- soothing touch massage
- thermal regulation (warm blankets or cold packs)
- music
cognitive coping strategies
approaches that include those that help reframe or refocus thoughts from negative to positive
Types of cognitive coping strategies
- conscious choice of alternate focus (distraction)
- thought stopping self-instruction (self-talk)
- therapeutic storytelling
- intellectualization (information seeking)
- reframing
- spirituality or prayer
- humor
- imagery
- hypnotherapy (magic glove)
behavioral coping strategies
introduce behaviors that are compatible with the successful completion of the threatening event
Types of behavioral coping strategies
- relaxation techniques (deep breathing)
- muscle relaxation
- desensitization (medical play)
- modeling
emotion-focused coping
, directed toward regulation of one's emotional responses to potentially stressful circumstance
problem-focused coping
efforts directed toward managing or changing the potentially stressful situation
temperament characteristics/qualities
adaptability, irritability, activity level, emotionality, and fearfulness
characteristics of play
1. intrinsically motivated (self-directed)
2. involves attention to means rather than to ends
3. may be nonliteral or symbolic
4. may be free from external rules
5. requires active engagement
Parten's theory of play
play described in terms of the level of social interaction involved
Parten's Stages of Play
solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, cooperative play
Piaget's theory of play
based on how children utilize play materials
Piaget's stages of play
functional play (practice play), constructive play, dramatic/sociodramatic play, games-with-rules
symbolic play
- begins at 18 months - 2 years
- when playing, actively do things that represent personal images of their own experiences
- according to Piaget, is the ability to transform direct sensory data into abstract mental images
When does symbolic play emerge?
- 18 to 24 months
- While playing, children actively do things that represent personal images of their own experiences
pretend play
children demonstrate their own views of themselves and others, including the roles they and the
people around them assume
therapeutic play objectives
1. to establish rapport
2. to promote observation and collect useful data
3. to interpret behaviors and understand how children are making sense of their healthcare (stressful)
situation
clinical advancement programs
- provide opportunities for career development within child life programs and recognize child life
specialists who demonstrate a high level of clinical skills
A CLS who encourages patients and families to be experts of their own family practice is building the
foundation for
culturally competent and spiritually supportive care
As members of the healthcare team, how do child life specialists accurately and consistently share
assessment information and care plans with other healthcare team members?
documentation
Components of assessment
information from the family, information from the child, and information from the healthcare team
Kubler-Ross's stages of grief
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
culture shock
results when a series of disorienting encounters occur in which an individual's basic values, beliefs,
and patterns of behavior are challenged by a different set of values, beliefs, and behaviors
Cross cultural competency can be demonstrated by
managing culture shock
Various Models of Assessment
1. Stress Potential Assessment Process
2. Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
3. Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
4. Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
Stress Potential Assessment Process
- encourages the CLS to formulate a care plan based on the consideration of 3 categories of
information: healthcare, family, and child variables
- CLS then assigns a stress potential rating (1 to 5)
- draws upon knowledge of child development and family systems functioning with added healthcare
stressors to assign a rating
- developed by Gaynard (1998)
Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
- formal screening tool to assess a patient's risk for coping during a particular intervention or
healthcare encounter
- assigns a risk level based on empirical evidence using eight variables that closely correlate with the
potential for negative outcomes during healthcare encounters
Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
- provides specific criteria for assessing patients and prioritizing their needs, and delineates forms of
child life intervention that address the identified needs of the individual.
,- begins w/ consideration of critical psychosocial variables (9) that have been found to predict
psychological upset in children experiencing healthcare
Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
- formal assessment that has been validated in infant, toddler, and preschool versions, and includes
assessment of multiple domains: cognitive, language, gross motor, fine motor, social-emotional, self-
help, regulatory, and sensory.
- relies heavily on parent report
Documentation of a child life intervention in a patient healthcare record should be considered
an extension of the intervention that is necessary to regard it as complete
Types of coping techniques/strategies
sensory, cognitive, behavioral
sensory coping strategies
rely on sound, touch, or movement to enhance the child's coping capacities
types of sensory coping strategies
- positioning (comfort hold, swaddling)
- movement (rocking or patting)
- soothing touch massage
- thermal regulation (warm blankets or cold packs)
- music
cognitive coping strategies
approaches that include those that help reframe or refocus thoughts from negative to positive
Types of cognitive coping strategies
- conscious choice of alternate focus (distraction)
- thought stopping self-instruction (self-talk)
- therapeutic storytelling
- intellectualization (information seeking)
- reframing
- spirituality or prayer
- humor
- imagery
- hypnotherapy (magic glove)
behavioral coping strategies
introduce behaviors that are compatible with the successful completion of the threatening event
Types of behavioral coping strategies
- relaxation techniques (deep breathing)
- muscle relaxation
- desensitization (medical play)
- modeling
emotion-focused coping
, directed toward regulation of one's emotional responses to potentially stressful circumstance
problem-focused coping
efforts directed toward managing or changing the potentially stressful situation
temperament characteristics/qualities
adaptability, irritability, activity level, emotionality, and fearfulness
characteristics of play
1. intrinsically motivated (self-directed)
2. involves attention to means rather than to ends
3. may be nonliteral or symbolic
4. may be free from external rules
5. requires active engagement
Parten's theory of play
play described in terms of the level of social interaction involved
Parten's Stages of Play
solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, cooperative play
Piaget's theory of play
based on how children utilize play materials
Piaget's stages of play
functional play (practice play), constructive play, dramatic/sociodramatic play, games-with-rules
symbolic play
- begins at 18 months - 2 years
- when playing, actively do things that represent personal images of their own experiences
- according to Piaget, is the ability to transform direct sensory data into abstract mental images
When does symbolic play emerge?
- 18 to 24 months
- While playing, children actively do things that represent personal images of their own experiences
pretend play
children demonstrate their own views of themselves and others, including the roles they and the
people around them assume
therapeutic play objectives
1. to establish rapport
2. to promote observation and collect useful data
3. to interpret behaviors and understand how children are making sense of their healthcare (stressful)
situation
clinical advancement programs
- provide opportunities for career development within child life programs and recognize child life
specialists who demonstrate a high level of clinical skills
