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Jen: Child Life specialists work with children and their families
in medical settings. Micaela: We help children understand specifically here at Joslin
their diabetes
and we do that through play and the children are able to come here
and learn about everything while they're here in Jen and I in the playroom.
Jen: We prepare children for blood draws, we help them
with pump starts and CGM insertions
Micaela: we use medical play as a way to inform children how
things are going to happen throughout the procedure and
so we have real medical supplies here in the playroom without any needles or
anything
so that way they can explore and reenact
different scenarios that they go through in taking care of their diabetes
and also we help them walk through the steps of
the different procedures they may have while they're here. Jen: we also tell them
what their job is, too,
during the procedure. So their job is to stay really really still like a
statue
and to play a game, like an I Spy book or Spot It,
and if they're just focused on that they're more likely to cooperate and
and it will go
much more smoothly Micaela: When people walk by the playroom
a lot of them think that we're just playing and it may look like that it
it may just look like we're playing
Sorry or playing games or coloring but what they don't realize
is how we're interacting with the children
so play is crucial in a child
how they learn about the world around them is through play
so why not incorporate play when they're having a medical experience
and through that allows them to
understand what's going on with them and allows us
to you gain a sense of where they are in understanding their diagnosis
We get a lot of variety of kids in the playroom, a lot of different ages
and it allows for kids to meet one another, because unfortunately
even though diabetes is
a big population here, outside in their communities they may be.
the only child in their school who has diabetes, so
coming here they get to meet other kids who have also have diabetes
and they get excited, and they want to know "oh, do they have a pump?
I have a pump," and so though they're just able to communicate and talk to one
another and kids might be able to help other kids try new sites and say
"no, it doesn't hurt that much,
you know use your leg that's great" and and so just
allowing the kids to interact with one another is a huge impact for them as
well
Jen: Micaela and I a have gotten
to know these patients and their families very well and oftentimes they're more
willing to just tell us information about themselves without us even asking
and were able to bring that information back to the team. We also encourage
families for future visits to bring
siblings or friends and that way we can work with them
and help them understand their brother or sister or
friend's diagnosis. Micaela: And these appointments can be really really long sometimes and
so it can just make for a really long day for these young kids and so by
having
this playroom here, it allows the parents to
feel comfortable just leaving their child here with us and
get all the information that they need and the child is staying entertained with us
as well as learning about their diabetes in a fun
way