We’re Celebrating Our Child Life Department All Month Long!

We’re celebrating Child Life Month!  Our outstanding teams of specialists at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio do incredible work for our patients and their families.

Home to the largest Child Life department in South Central Texas, The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio‘s Child Life specialists create an environment to ease children’s fears and provide important emotional and social care to make the hospital experience as pleasant as possible for both the child and the family. Child Life specialists are academically prepared in child psychology, child and family development, counseling, education and creative art therapies, and provide strong support to help children understand what will happen before, during, and after their hospital visit.

The Child Life team works with the entire Hospital staff to create positive learning experiences for children and their families during their Hospital stay. This past year, in-person/group Child Life activities were suspended to protect our Associates and patients. Our Child Life specialists sprung into action to find a way to still bring our patients joy and comfort.

Telepresence robots were used to provide bedside activities including, music therapy, video chats with family members, and so much more. Closed-circuit television programs were set up in lieu of group activities, where patients were able to tune-in via their individual rooms for fun activities. Specialists wore laminated photos of themselves so patients and families could see the smile underneath the mask. Although events and holidays were not celebrated in a typical way, our Child Life department still found a way to make our patients feel special with uplifting messages, music, and virtual games.

When Child Life specialists weren’t busy with patients, they are busy assisting with the safety of patients, families, and fellow Associates by being critical team members of the screening process to enter the hospital.

We cannot thank our Child Life specialists enough for all of their hard work each and every day. The Child Life department relies heavily on donors like you to be able to continue the work they do for our patients and families. We encourage you to support The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Foundation with a gift in celebration of Child Life month.