The Child Life Program strives to meet the psychosocial and emotional needs of children and youth throughout their health care journeys. They help them adjust to and understand hospitalization, medical procedures, illness and injury. The Child Life Program at Children’s Hospital (Victoria Hospital) helps patients and families to effectively cope by;
- Easing a child’s fear and anxiety with the use of individualized play experiences
- Sharing information; which includes explanations for medical experiences, sequence of events and details about what you may see, hear, taste and feel
- Creating play opportunities to explore and handle pretend and/ or actual medical equipment. This may increase a patient’s comfort level and familiarity with medical care
- Developing coping plans and supporting strategies such as distraction and deep breathing
- Offering support to caregivers who are present during medical procedures (e.g., anesthesia induction)
In Medical Imaging, they are most commonly involved with procedures that are specialized or take a longer time to complete including CT scans, MRIs, and X-ray procedures such as Voiding Cystograms.
Printable voiding cystogram pamphlet.
Please inquire if you feel your child could benefit from this service.
Monday to Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
(519) 685 – 8500 ext. 52887 Main Child Life office
(519) 685 – 8368 ext. 1 for the MRI program
