Child Life Specialist at World Child Cancer

As a child life specialist, you\’ll use therapeutic techniques to help children understand their medical condition, treatment and its impact on their daily life. You will help children and families cope with the challenges of hospitalisations and illness.

Working on the hospital ward and the day care unit, you will provide children with age-appropriate activities to help with the preparation of medical procedures, pain management and coping strategies.

You\’ll also provide support to parents, carers and the wider family, including siblings, and will offer advice on how they can use play to help their children make sense of what\’s happening to them and support them with communicating with their child about their illness.

Key Responsibilities

• Support children from the point of diagnosis and throughout their cancer treatment
• Attend initial counselling session with families to explain in simple terms what will happen during treatment and to ensure the family understands
• Provide emotional support to children and families and understand the psychosocial issues that families are facing
• Use play and distraction methods to help children and young people settle into life in hospital, to help them prepare for medical procedures and to help calm and distract them during procedures. This will include being present in the procedure room to provide distraction therapy during difficult procedures
  • Plan and implement a range of age-appropriate play, drama, art and craft activities for children and young people, both individually and in groups
  • Use play to help children reach developmental targets, learn new skills and relearn skills they may have lost during their illness
  • Support families under stress and advise them on how they can use play with their children to help them cope with their diagnosis and treatment and how they can effectively communicate with their child about their illness
• Facilitate social interaction to help patients and their families to make friends and find support from others in the ward
• After training has been provided, recommend tools/equipment/ toys to have available to families on the ward

Required Skills or Experience

• A degree in one of the following:
• Bachelor of Psychology
• Bachelor of Social Work
• Bachelor of Public Health
• MPhil Art Education
• MSc Creative Art Therapy
• Be present in multi-disciplinary team meetings and share your assessment, observations and recommendations
• Observe and assess the child’s anxieties and communicate any psychosocial issues or concerns to the doctors/nurses
• Work closely with the clinical psychologist assigned to the department and refer more in-depth cases on to them
• Act as an advocate for children and young people in your interactions with the healthcare team and create an awareness in all staff members of the value of play.

• The ability to build a rapport and develop relationships with children and their families Ability to present information clearly to a range of people Empathy, patience and sensitivity Proven ability to communicate sensitively and effectively at all levels both verbally and in writing Organisation skills to plan and deliver activities for children Creativity, energy and enthusiasm A flexible approach to work in order to adapt to children\’s different needs Teamworking skills and the ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team The ability to work independently and to prioritise your workload Cultural awareness and respect for the religious and cultural diversity of children and their families Strong time management and organisational skills Understanding of data protection and the ability to maintain confidentiality