Christner.PlayingWithChildLifeFULL.ChildLifeCouncilBulletin.2011

VOLUME 29 • NUMBER 1 WINTER 2011

INSIDE

3 Loss of Child Life Pioneer Joan Chan

4 2010 Conference — AnInternational Perspective

6 Academic Pathways:Kind of a Crazy Path

8 CLC Annual Report

In Focus:Playing with Child Life:An Interdisciplinary Elective to Increase Second Year Medical Students’ Exposure,Knowledge, and Skills

The Child Life Alphabet

J IS FOR JOB SHARE:IS IT FOR YOU?Anne Luebering Mohl, PhD, CCLS

Kimberly Robison O’Leary, MS, CCLS,Hospice of the Valley, Decatur, AL

A s child life specialists, we advocate for poli-cies and actions that support families andenhance their functioning and coping, tak-

ing the time to identify needs of the “whole”patient and family. Sometimes, however, ourown families suffer due to the struggles manyof us have in maintaining work/life balance.A “personal needs assessment” may uncoverareas where changes are needed to enhance a

healthy balance among our personal needs,career choices, and life demands. As employ-ers are more willing to address such issues inorder to retain valuable personnel, creativesolutions to providing needed child life cover-age while still addressing team members’ per-sonal needs and preferences for convenientwork schedules are becoming more common.One such solution is job sharing. There arenumerous factors to consider, including timefor thorough self-evaluation, extensive plan-ning, and campaigning to gain the support ofchild life and unit staff. Job sharing requiresspecific personal characteristics that mean itmay not be suitable for everyone looking to

This year, the city of Chicago will host an anticipated1,000 child life professionals, educators, and stu-dents during the Child Life Council’s 29th Annual

Conference on Professional Issues. With one of theworld’s tallest city skylines, Chicago is the ideal spot formembers of the child life community to Soar to NewHeights in their professional development. CLC invitesyou to join us for the largest annual gathering of childlife specialists in the world, May 26 – 29, 2011, at theSheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

Lawrence Gray, MD, a board-certified behavioral anddevelopmental pediatrician, will deliver the Emma PlankKeynote address. Dr. Gray’s clinical practice andresearch focuses on the behavioral and developmentalissues of infants and young children, with a special emphasis oninfant stress and self-regulation. He coordinates the University ofChicago’s pediatric residency rotation in international health, andalso partners with Erickson Institute, Comer Children’s Hospital,and La Rabida Children’s Hospital.

At the closing general session, CLC will present a production performed by The Penguin Project®. Created by developmentalpediatrician Dr. Andrew Morgan, The Penguin Project® gives chil-dren with disabilities an opportunity to participate in the perform-ing arts as a means to enhance social interaction, communication

continued on page 10


Child Life Council Soars toNew Heights in ChicagoMAY 26 – 29, 2011

At the Closing General Session of the Annual Conference, developmental pediatrician Dr. Andrew Morgan willbriefly discuss how The Penguin Project ® came to life, followed by a presentation of the Penguin Players.

New Year’s resolu-tions. Can youthink back to

the ones you madeat the beginning of

2010? Many people will be determined tospend more time with family and friends, to stop bad habits, to be healthier, or to get out of debt. These are habits they areattempting to establish or extinguish, work-ing toward being resolute in that goal orhabit. The definition of resolute is to befirmly resolved or determined, set in pur-pose. Child Life Council is firmly resolvedin several areas that I feel characterize ahealthy organization. These resolutions are not ones begun in this new year, butestablished from the onset and woven intothe very fabric of CLC. Three such purposesthat we are resolved in not only maintaining,but raising the standard in, are below. Manyother organizations, I believe, share the sameresolutions that mark a healthy, thrivingorganization.

One resolution that Child Life Councilcontinues to hold to the highest standard isthat of being fiscally responsible and sound.Every year that I have been on the Board Ihave seen CLC implement improvements thatprudently manage the fiduciary responsibilitythe Board has to the membership. Thisranges from our accounting standards, to our

investment strategies, accountability measures,and budgeting practices. We can be assuredthat every dollar that comes into our organiza-tion is protected for the purpose of serving themembership and the goals of CLC.

The second characteristic that Child LifeCouncil continues to be resolved in main-taining is our ability to be responsive to theneeds of the membership and profession in atimely and relevant manner. This is evidentin all of the work our committees and taskforces are accomplishing. The Child LifeCertifying Committee is hard at work

maintaining the integrity of our certificationprocess, and has recently introduced comput-er-based testing that serves those around theworld from Singapore to Australia toOshkosh, Wisconsin. The Academic andInternship Task Forces are tackling majorissues that will further raise the academic andclinical standards of our profession. Theseare but two examples of CLC’s commitmentto being responsive to the needs of the membership and pursuing those needs with excellence.

The third resolution that Child LifeCouncil continues to make to its members is that we will be strategic in our planningand execution of our services and goals. In fact, CLC is currently involved in strategicplanning that will take us beyond our 2008 –2011 Strategic Plan. This process ensuresthat CLC is putting resources and time intothe things that matter to the membership andprofession, and is flexible enough to addressunforeseen circumstances in a timely manner.

The Child Life Council is excited aboutthe work already being accomplished in2011, and is looking forward to the rest ofthis year and beyond. I, personally, amresolved to share my deep appreciation andgratitude to each and every child life profes-sional who faithfully serves the needs ofpediatric patients and families across theworld. Your service is recognized and valued!What we accomplish together this year, andour resolve to continue in excellence, mightstrongly resemble the early years in develop-ing the child life profession.

2 A PUBLICATION OF THE CHILD LIFE COUNCIL

BULLETIN WINTER 2011

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

The Beginning of a New YearEugene Johnson, MA, CCLSChildren’s Medical Center, Dallas, TX

Child Life Council Bulletin/FOCUS11821 Parklawn Drive, Suite 310, Rockville, MD 20852-2539

(800) CLC-4515 • (301) 881-7090 • Fax (301) 881-7092www.childlife.org • Email: [email protected]

President Executive Editor Associate Editor Executive Director Managing EditorEugene Johnson Anne Luebering Mohl Jaime Bruce Holliman Dennis Reynolds Melissa Boyd

Published quarterly in January, April, July and October. Articles should be submitted by the 15th of January,April, July and October. Please see Submission Guidelines in the Bulletin Newsletter section of the CLC Web site for more information.

For information on how to place an ad in the Bulletin, please refer to the Marketing Opportunities section of the CLC Web site: http://www.childlife.org/Marketing Opportunities/

We shall not cease

from exploration

And the end of all

our exploring

Will be to arrive

where we started

And know the place

for the first time.— Excerpt from Little Gidding,

by T. S. Elliot

CORRECTIONS:The Bulletin Editorial Team would like to apolo-gize for two errors printed in the Fall 2010 issueof the Bulletin.

Jon Luongo, in his CLC Community Blog article,was incorrectly listed as working at Children’sHospital at Montefiore, when he should havebeen listed as working at Maimonides Infantsand Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn, NY.

Also, the CLC Calendar incorrectly identified thedeadline for the Child Life ProfessionalCertification maintenance fees to be October 31,when the correct deadline is January 31.

Again, we apologize for the errors.

In the early 1970’s, the traditional focus bymost medical and nursing staff was not onpsychosocial care in pediatrics. Patients

were kept in their beds for “safety.” Parentvisits were discouraged because childrencried. Nurses who wanted to calm childrenwith play and conversation were told thatwasn’t their job.

As a pioneer child life specialist at thattime, Joan Chan, who died this past October,was able to persuade the administration andstaff at the New York hospital where sheworked that they needed to treat the wholechild, not as just a physical entity with a dis-ease, but as a hospitalized child with develop-mental and emotional needs. Bringing chil-dren out of their beds and into therapeuticplayrooms, preparing them before treatment,including their parents and siblings in care,

and training staffon child develop-ment, she was ableto influencechanges in psy-chosocial care. Shereceived severalprofessional awardsand fellowships,and gained support from community groupsas well as from nurses, doctors, parents, andthe hospital administration.

Joan professionalized child life work bywriting reports and publications, by makingnumerous presentations and demonstrations,by inviting student interns to work with her,and by encouraging nurses, doctors, parents,and the hospital administration to adopt psy-chosocial care as part of their practice. Even

Ithink I can saywith confidencethat all child life

specialists have hadto explain their pro-fession to people

who respond to the words ‘child life’ withblank stares. As practitioners in a field thatmuch of the population has never even heardof, we are accustomed to explaining our role.I know I do this on a regular basis. I have an“elevator speech” that I can rattle off quicklywhen the situation warrants it, and I have alonger, more detailed, more specific, andmore interactive introduction to child lifethat I go through with new patients andfamilies. Maybe the most satisfying are thelong conversations with people I meet awayfrom the medical setting who are amazedthat child life exists and can point to times in their own experience, either as a child oras a parent, when child life would have made

a difference. These conversations are veryaffirming because the person usually mirrorsmy own excitement about the field. Even so,wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to tellsomeone your job title occasionally and havethem just nod knowingly?

The other, darker side of explaining ourrole is when we need to justify ourselves inour work setting. Whether fighting for timeto prepare a child before a procedure orfighting for funding, these encounters can be

difficult, but they are necessary to continueadvancing child life.

The articles in this issue of Focus andBulletin bring us news of developments inthe ongoing quest to make child life wide-spread, well-known, and well-utilized. It isexciting to hear about a program that edu-cates upcoming physicians about child life,play, and child development. The Focus arti-cle describes a successful course. Wouldn’t itbe nice if more new doctors were exposed indepth to child life at pertinent points in theirmedical education and came to us excitedabout the perspective and skills we bring?

In the Bulletin, don’t miss the inspiringletters from the three international scholar-ship recipients about their experiences ofattending the 2010 CLC Conference inPhoenix. They left the conference with thesame renewed enthusiasm to spread child lifepractices in their own settings that manyother attendees have expressed, but each ofthem faces unique challenges associated withtaking what they gained back to their homes.Their words reminded me of the strugglesfaced by those who came before us, andmake me grateful for those who have persist-ed in fighting the bigger battles so that myown are smaller.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Explaining Child LifeAnne Luebering Mohl, PhD, CCLS

A PUBLICATION OF THE CHILD LIFE COUNCIL 3


Child Life Council EXECUTIVE BOARD 2010-2011President Eugene W. Johnson, MA, CCLS

President-Elect Toni Millar, MS, CCLS

Past President Ellen Good, MSEd, CCLS

Secretary Kristin Maier, CCLS

Treasurer Sharon McLeod, MS, CCLS, CTRS

Directors Jodi Bauers, CCLSLisa Ciarrocca, CCLSSharon Granville,MS,CCLS,CTRS,NCCAnita H. Pumphrey, MS, CCLS

CACLL President Michele Wilband, MS Ed, CCLS

CLCC Senior Chair Kathleen O’Brien, MA, CCLS

Executive Director Dennis Reynolds, MA, CAE

To contact a Board member,please visit the CLC Member Directory at http://www.childlife.org/Membership/

MemberDirectory.cfm.

...Wouldn’t it be wonderful

to be able to tell someone your

job title occasionally and have

them just nod knowingly?

Loss of Child Life Pioneer Joan ChanPat Azarnoff, MEd




In 2010, CLC created a scholarship program for international members, to give them a chance to travel to conference and attend for the first time.Below, three of our winners, chosen fromover 25 applications, share the stories oftheir experiences at conference.

CRISSA NACIONALESDAVAO CITY, THE PHILIPPINES

Blessed. Grateful. Privileged. These arethe three words that filled my thoughtsthat night I received the email confirm-

ing my qualification to be one of the inter-national scholars for the 28th Annual ChildLife Conference.

For one who works on the other side ofthe globe where child life programs areknown only by a handful of people, thechance to learn the best practices of coun-tries that have incorporated child life intotheir hospital services is a big opportunity.Thus, when I was informed that a scholar-ship program was open to all interestedinternational applicants, I immediately sub-mitted all that was required.

Selecting the topics to register for and lis-ten to excited me. All of them were veryinteresting and very useful, especially for uswho do not immediately have on hand theopportunity to take child life classes in a col-lege course. At the back of my mind, Iwished I could attend all of them. If only itwere possible to be at several places all atonce! In the end, it had to be about choos-ing what was most applicable and mostneeded in our Philippine setting.

I was a first timer. Thus, seeing all of theparticipants, the numerous certification aspi-rants, and listening to the first group ofspeakers, overwhelmed me to the extent thatI could put aside the fever and tonsillitis thatstarted to weaken me. I had one goal.Learn. And when I get home, it’s all aboutpassing on and sharing all that I have learnedfrom the conference.

Networking roundtables and the GlobalChild Life Networking Session with interna-tional child life/hospital play practitioners

encouraged me to continue doing what wedo for our patients. Listening to the chal-lenges that others faced affirmed my convic-tion that financial/resource limitations arenot hindrances to serve our kids and to workfor them and with them. Knowing peoplewho have the same heart for this cause is alsoone lesson that is worth passing on—that wecan do it all together, that partnering withthe community, both locally and globally, iswhat will make child life work even in acountry that has yet to know the beauty andworth of a child life program.

For fellow health workers, for hospitaladministrations, and for the community toknow more about child life, the session onevidence-based practice clearly conveyed theimportance of research in this field. Thisposes a challenge for me as well as for all ofus here in the Philippines. We do haveresearch, and I believe that there is a need formore. Most importantly, we need to takeaction based on the findings of studies andto disseminate the results to our colleaguesand partners in the field of patient care.

The presentation on creating a multi-dis-ciplinary comfort team was an affirmationthat we are making the right moves and planof action in making care for the kids holistic.Bottom line: dedication and compassion ineach team member’s heart and mind. It is allabout concerted efforts.

The lectures I listened to have inspired me

to keep at it and have renewed my spirit ofservice and love for kids. It is true that ourchallenges, and the way they make us feelhelpless, cause us to feel exhausted. It has attimes even caused me to draw away fromwork. But this break, this chance for learn-ing and opportunity I have had, has rejuve-nated me. It is all about being there for thekids and their parents.

Now that I am back renewed andinspired, I am preparing for the next trainingI will be able to attend. I am working sothat another hospital can have their ownchild life program, and I take with me allthat I learned at the conference. I will sharewith all of my fellow child life workers allthat you have given me. And I give it allback to the kids; the reason why I found

myself loving what I do… loving the factthat I am one of the many who proudly walkthe hospital premises with toys, books, awide grin and a big heart.

To start with, here are some of the things Iwill be doing:

• I will be relaying the information toFatima Garcia-Lorenzo, CCLS, ExecutiveDirector of our organization, KytheFoundation, on the importance of researchto strengthen our advocacy for the imple-mentation and incorporation of child lifein hospitals.

• I will be reviewing the module on thebasic training in getting the child life pro-gram started. I will be incorporating thethings I’ve learned into the lecture.

• I conducted a training in September, and,in line with the plans to have satellite sites

2010 Conference – An International Perspective

From left to right: CLC President Eugene Johnson; CLC President-Elect Toni Millar; scholarship winners Rachel Jacobson, CrissaNacionales (front), Dragana Nikolic, and Carlo Moretti; CLC Past President Ellen Good; CLC Executive Director Dennis Reynolds.



for the pediatric oncology service, I havealso been delegated to train future childlife staff in those areas. Currently, theproject director has identified two hospi-tals where satellite pediatric oncology serv-ices will be given. That’s an additionaltwo trainings to conduct!

• I am also currently working with our pedi-atric oncology nurses on conducting semi-nars on the services our multi-disciplinaryteam has for our kids. We aim to spreadthe knowledge on multi-disciplinary careand to raise funds to help augment financesof our patients since not all of our chemo-therapy medicines and laboratories areprovided for free.

• I will continue sharing the lecture notesand files with all my child life counterpartsworking in other hospitals nationwide sothat all of us will grow in learning.

On a personal note, the honor to havemet and talked with the Board was veryencouraging. It has shed much light anddirection in the career path of child life. Thenext step for me is to start an internship. Ido hope to find one that can also be availablethrough scholarship. Then, of course, I needto do some studying as well so that when Iam ready, I would find myself as one of themany who would take the certification exam.And in the future, be one of two or three inthe Philippines to become a Certified ChildLife Specialist. Yay!!!

I have been blessed. I am most grateful.

More power to all of you!

Daghang Salamat! (Thank you very much!)

DRAGANA NIKOLICBELGRADE, SERBIA

The Child Life Council announced theavailability of a special internationalscholarship for attending the conference.

With the help of my friends and partners onthis project, I sent the scholarship applica-tion form and won the scholarship. So themain purpose of my trip to USA was atten-dance at the conference.

Before going to the Conference I spentthree days in Johns Hopkins Children’sCentre, in Baltimore, Maryland. This wasthe first part of my insight into the exact roleand importance of child life specialists. The

other part of my insight happened duringthe conference.

Around 1000 people participated in theconference. It was a wonderful feeling to be apart of such a professional meeting. I attend-ed a lot of different sessions: medical play,coping with trauma, radiology, pain control,end-of-life, sedation, ONE VOICE, clinicalsupervision, global child life networking, aswell as other activities. During these sessionsI established contacts with lots of people, andagain, I became aware that child life is a realscience where people have devoted their pro-fessional lives in order to make hospitals morechild friendly and—what is most impor-tant—they have succeeded in that effort.Their success gives me a strength, energy andbelief that something like that is really possi-ble and feasible. I used each opportunity tointroduce myself and to explain to people the current situation in Serbia and my plansfor Serbian children’s hospitals. After myexplanation about Serbia—that it is a smallcountry; it is difficult to engage additionalnon-medical staff in hospitals; and that whatI want is to adapt child-friendly programs for Serbian circumstances and to initiate it inhospitals—I was encouraged by every personto move on with my plans and not to losestrength for achieving this goal.

I was especially honored by having thechance to talk with women who actually ini-tiated child life programs in U.S. hospitals,like Jerriann Myers Wilson, director of thechild life department in Johns HopkinsChildren’s Center from 1972-2005. All ofthem also encouraged me to move on,although it won’t be easy at all; they knowthat since they were in my position many,many years ago, and that it was a long wayto be where they are now in child-friendlyprograms, but despite all, the success is feasi-ble. That made me stronger in my beliefsthat this is also feasible in Serbia. I wouldlike to thank the ladies who offered me achance to give a video interview for theChild Life Council Archives and speak aboutmy country, my organization and my plansrelated to a child-friendly approach inSerbian children’s hospitals. I was really hon-ored to do that.

One situation that impressed me was theexhibition of toys and all the other differentmaterials and tools. I was delighted when Irealized that a whole industry was developedto serve child life specialists and make their

job easier and more successful. That was alsoa great source of ideas about what toys andtools can be developed and used. All thesethings helped me to develop a plan how toimplement all these things with respect toSerbia.

What was also very important to me is thefact that the conference attendees opened upto help me on my way to establish a childlife program in Serbia. I’ll definitely needhelp on my way to success and I definitelywon’t hesitate to contact all the people I metin the U.S., especially now that the confer-ence brought me one new idea—that I defi-nitely should gain my certification as a childlife specialist.

CARLO MORETTI, MD, PHD, PADOVA, ITALY

Ihad an outstanding experience at the 2010CLC Annual conference for the followingreasons:

1. I had the chance to get to know yourprofession; how many child life specialiststhere are and how defined the professionalprofile of the child life specialist is in theU.S.

2. I confirmed what I have been believingfor many years: topics about child lifeand promotion of health and wellness inpediatric hospitals are “real things” thatcan gather hundreds of health profession-als for days, discussing, studying, sharingideas, experiences, and scientific issues.

3. As a hospital pediatrician, I did particular-ly appreciate the remarkable role that a child life specialist can play in the careprocess of the hospitalised child. In avision of global care of the ill child, we arenot only supposed to cure his/her “brokenbody” but also to support the healthyparts of the child, so that he/she canalways feel himself a child, despite his/herillness. This aspect is very important topreserve his/her developmental processuntil the adult age and to help him/her tocope with the trauma of the illness andhospital admission. I can really say that,in this area, the presence of a child lifespecialist can make the difference!

4. I found very stimulating the time, duringthe conference, dedicated to researchtopics, such as sharing of results, works

continued on page 7



Where did your journey begin? Withover 4000 members, almost a third ofthem students, the Child Life Council

is made up of diverse individuals, each withspecific starting points and visions for thefuture. One unique segment of the member-ship, although small, consists of people whohave pursued higher education at the doctor-al level. These individuals strive to positionthemselves to both maintain a connectionwith the profession and progress in theirchosen field. Sharing a passion for child life,we found that the associated scholars andresearchers have found support along the wayto establishing their niche but face somecommon challenges. One person describedher journey as, “kind of a crazy path.”

EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYSThe intersection of child life and graduate

studies occurred at different stages of careerdevelopment for the dozen or so doctoralstudents and academics that we contactedduring the initial charge of the Research andScholarship Task Force. Approximately halfwere active in child life practice for a mini-mum of five years before moving towarddoctoral studies. Others interrupted theirstudies or career in order to move into thefield. Many individuals merged their inter-ests in creative ways, usually at the stage ofMasters level study, which was a marker forthe ‘discovery’ of child life as a career path-way; “You could say that I used graduate schoolas an opportunity to break into the field.”Educational backgrounds, not surprisingly,were diverse, with undergraduate degreesincluding music, fine arts, religious studies,nursing, biology, education, psychology, soci-ology, and combinations of human develop-ment and child, adolescent, or family studies.Opportunities at the Masters level offeredgreater specialization: child life, early inter-vention, early childhood education, andrecreation to name a few.

The educational and career pathways ofour academicians have taken many twistsand turns, with some individuals making U-turns and others building bridges in orderto pursue their passion for child life. Forsome, the pursuit of higher education result-ed from the reality of limited opportunity for

advancement in clinical practice, “I thoughtthat was the only real opportunity to advance.”Others described themselves as “a keen stu-dent,” “committed to scholarship,” or “wantingto pursue research and teaching.” Due to limit-ed availability of faculty with a child lifebackground, individuals found support fromadvisors who did not have child life experi-ence but were flexible and knowledgeable inways that promoted the achievement of stu-dent goals, “I have been able to take concepts...and analyze them through the lens of clinicalpractice and use clinical practice to help myselfunderstand the concepts.” The role of thementor was invaluable to many who wereallowed to incorporate child life into course-work, theses, and dissertation research, andthus maintain their commitment to childlife. As a result, individuals have achievedPhDs in areas such as education, educationalpsychology, applied psychology, clinical pas-toral education, human development andchild, adolescent or family studies, and thera-peutic recreation. Of note is the affirmationof the foundations, goals, and ideals of childlife at the core of their scholarship.

BALANCING CHILD LIFEINTERESTS AND ACADEMICDEMANDS

Child life academicians have establishedtheir place in academic and clinical pro-grams, yet most mention their struggle tomaintain a balance between their commit-ment to the child life profession and therequirements of academia. Academic pro-grams demand varying levels of teaching,scholarship, and research and collaborationwith child life practitioners; just as cliniciansstrive to meet the needs of children and fam-ilies in their daily practice, so too do acade-micians strive to meet the advising and learn-ing needs of students. However, in adjustingto academic structures, particularly in tenuretrack positions, faculty members are pres-sured to establish a record of funded researchand publication while being pulled by theirteaching, advising, service, and other duties.Additional realities of limited funding oppor-tunities, challenges of clinical research, andnarrow avenues for publishing child life-spe-cific research abound. Academicians agreed

that child life research is very important andneeded, yet suggested that it can be “especial-ly challenging to do. It can take a long time,has unique IRB (Institutional Research Board)issues, and does not have existing fundingmechanisms that others kinds of researchmight.” Therefore, in order to survive in academia, new researchers need to considerhow closely they focus on child life-relatedresearch; “I strongly believe we have a place inchild development, child care, and child andyouth fields and can maybe take greater advan-tage of those fields in promotion of our work.”

Early childhood, child development, fami-ly studies, early intervention, education, andcomplementary therapies (art, music, andtherapeutic recreation) speak to the humanis-tic care provided in practice. In an attemptto understand the tendency to choose aspectsof humanistic care as scholarship andresearch topics we may want to take a closerlook at our educational foundations. Childlife work resides within the medical model ofpractice and research but the roots of ourtraining are often nurtured within social sci-ences and professional programs. Whateverbasic exposure the typical undergraduatereceives to scientific methods of inquiry, thetopics and approaches to working with chil-dren and families essentially prepare us towork in a helping profession. Of no surpriseis the reality that few child life specialists areprepared early for a program of study thatincludes promotion of research as a compo-nent of professional practice. Further, itcomes as no surprise that child life academi-cians shift toward academic research andscholarship closely related to the disciplinesin which they have been trained in order toachieve success in the realm of research andscholarship. “I do other child developmentresearch but I always return to child life topics;”“A lot of the topics we research will be moredevelopmental and family-centered in focus...itis up to the researcher to provide conclusionsthat lend support to direct patient care;” A fewpeople noted the urge to abandon child lifefor other professional interests, “only to keepcoming back to the realization that althoughthere are numerous other directions I like topursue, child life continues to be where a bigpart of my heart is.”

VISIONS OF RESEARCH ANDSCHOLARSHIP

As the child life profession continues to

Academic Pathways: Kind of a Crazy PathJoan Turner, PhD, CCLS, Mount Saint Vincent University, Research and Scholarship Task Force Chair

Nicole Rosburg, MS, CCLS, Texas Children's Hospital, Research and Scholarship Task Force Member


INTRODUCTIONChildren from all cultures play. Even in

cultures where young children are expect-ed to work, anthropologists cite examplesof how children manage to integrate playinto their daily tasks (Schwartzman,1978). For children who are ill andrequire medical care, play helps make thehealth care experience less intimidatingand more comfortable (Brewer, Gleditsch,Syblik, Tietjens, & Vacik, 2006; Favara-Scacco, Smirne, Schiliro, & Di Cataldo,2001; Thompson, 1995). Most hospitalsspecializing in pediatric care have child lifeprograms which consist of staff holdingdegrees and certifications in a variety ofdisciplines, including child development,therapeutic recreation, art therapy, musictherapy, and education (Thompson &Stanford, 1981). According to theAmerican Academy of PediatricsCommittee on Hospital Care, child lifeservices are an essential component ofquality pediatric health care and are inte-gral to family-centered care and best-prac-tice models of health care delivery for chil-dren (2006). In addition, multiple med-ical educational organizations emphasizethe importance of teaching communica-tion skills and encouraging interdiscipli-nary collaboration. The LiaisonCommittee on Medical Education(LCME) Accreditation Standards specifiesthat medical students must receive specific

instruction in communication withpatients, families, and other health profes-sionals. The LCME also stresses the needfor medical students to be concerned withthe total medical needs of their patientsand the effects that social and cultural circumstances have on their patients’health. In its 1998 report entitledLearning Objectives for Medical StudentEducation, the Association of AmericanMedical Colleges (AAMC) states, “For itspart, the medical school must ensure thatbefore graduation, a student will havedemonstrated … an understanding of, andrespect for, the roles of other health careprofessionals, and of the need to collabo-rate with others in caring for individualpatients and in promoting the health ofdefined populations.” The AcademicPediatric Association (APA)/Council ofMedical Student Education in Pediatrics(COMSEP) General Pediatric ClerkshipCurriculum for third year medical stu-dents includes competencies in areas ofcommunication, child development andchild behavior (2005). It is clear thatcommunication and collaboration must bein all medical school curricula.

Because of the importance of play in theoverall well-being of children, the pediatricclerkship directors at the University ofMichigan Medical School (authors Schillerand Christner) felt that a medical studentexperience in therapeutic play, co-taught by

pediatric faculty and experts in child life,would be an excellent manner in which todeliver this curriculum. In fact, the AAPChild Life Services Policy Statement statesthat “the therapeutic interventions of childlife staff are most effective when deliveredin collaboration with the attending physi-cian, primary care physician, and othermembers of the health care team” (2006).A review of the literature, however, did notreveal any articles addressing medical edu-cation collaboration between physiciansand child life staff.

The authors hypothesized that 1) amedical student experience in child lifetherapies would increase medical students’knowledge, skills and comfort in interact-ing with children, and 2) this electivewould serve as an engaging way to intro-duce pediatrics to preclinical students.Using qualitative methods, we sought toexplore students’ reasons for choosing suchan elective and what students gained fromthe experience.

METHODS

SUBJECTS AND SETTING

A multidisciplinary elective comprisedof three two-hour sessions was developedand taught by pediatric faculty and childlife staff for second-year medical studentsat the University of Michigan MedicalSchool in October, 2008. The course wastaught by two pediatricians, two CertifiedChild Life Specialists and one board certi-fied music therapist. Overall objectives forthe course were for the students to:

• understand personal/social develop-mental stages of children,

• understand how children interpret sickness and how chronic illness impactsnormal childhood development,

• improve communication skills with children, and

Playing with Child Life: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ELECTIVE TO INCREASE SECOND-YEAR

MEDICAL STUDENTS’ EXPOSURE, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLSJocelyn Huang Schiller, MD, Pediatric Hospitalist, Associate Director of Pediatric Medical Student Education, Director of Normal Newborn Services, University of Michigan Medical School

Jennifer Christner, MD, Assistant Professor, Director of Medical Student Education, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School

Hilary Haftel, MD, Assistant Professor, Director and Associate Chair for Education,Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School


continued on Focus page 2

• demonstrate techniques utilized to comfort children undergoing painful procedures.

In order to address these objectives, a vari-ety of topics were covered in the sessions asdetailed in Table 1. Each two-hour sessionutilized both didactic pieces as well as activeparticipation. For example, after studentswere introduced to the concept of musictherapy by a board certified music therapist

and given examples of the settings where it isused in a children’s hospital, they then partic-ipated in a drum circle with pediatricpatients.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

To determine students’ goals for this elec-tive, an anonymous pre-course survey wasdistributed which queried students on thereasons they registered for the course, whatthey hoped to learn, and in which specialtiesthey were interested. Following the course,an anonymous post-course survey was dis-

tributed to determine what knowledge, skills,and attitudes the students may have gained.All questions on the surveys were open-ended to allow students to express themselvesin their own terms. To best portray the rich-ness of the survey responses, a qualitativedata analysis methodology was used toexplore the entire set of responses. All surveyresponses were transcribed and collated.Three research team members individuallyreviewed the responses and coded them foremerging themes. The team members thenmet and agreed on four themes: 1) skills withchildren and parents, 2) content knowledge,3) career exploration, and 4) fun.

Students also filled out an anonymouscourse evaluation as part of the standardmedical student evaluation process.

The University of Michigan MedicalSchool Institutional Review Board reviewedand exempted the research protocol for thisstudy. Informed consent was obtained fromthe students.

RESULTSNineteen out of 19 students (100%)

responded to the pre-course survey. Eighteenout of 19 students (95%) responded to thepost-course survey. The following summa-rizes the four themes that emerged from thequalitative analysis of the student surveyanswers.

SKILLS WITH CHILDREN AND PARENTS

Students reported seeking skills with chil-dren as an important factor for choosing thiscourse. In the post-course survey, studentsconsistently reported learning skills to inter-act with pediatric patients. The most com-mon skill reported was in comforting chil-dren in a medical setting. Students describedtheir participation in child life activities asbeing useful in understanding how to com-fort children:

“I really think participating in the‘kids’ activities was a great way to better understand how the activitieshelp kids cope.”

Increased communication skill was anoth-er domain that was frequently reported inthe post-course survey. Students reportedlearning models and analogies to teach chil-dren about anatomy and illness, as well asword choices that would be less frighteningto children.


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TABLE 1: DETAILED OUTLINE OF THE THREE SESSIONS, 2008SESSION ONE

Activity Time in minutes

Introduction to the course and child life 10

A reading of actual comments from pediatric patients 10(e.g..“I felt scared when…” or “I want my bear”) and discussion

Discussion of use of medical terminology/word choices with patients 15 (e.g.“One time a patient thought he was going to be shot with a bow and arrow as they misunderstoodwhen the doctor said ‘bone marrow;’” avoid using analogies of “going to sleep” when talking aboutdeath with children because this may make them think that if they go to sleep, they might die.)

Expressive Activity: Imagine self as pediatric patient, draw how you feel, then discuss your drawing 15with the group

Medical play using dolls and casting material 30

Discussion of tools for pain relief and comfort 15

Introduction to relaxation techniques, guided imagery experience1 15

SESSION TWO


Discussion of various pediatric scenarios (see Table 2) and how the child might feel 20

Didactic lecture and video on child development 10

Didactic lecture on how children view illness and death 10

Drum circle with music therapist - Students actively participate in alongside patients 60from the inpatient floors

Observation of music therapy in the Pediatric ICU 20

SESSION THREE


Medical play with doll and central intravenous catheter 50

Medical play with ingredients for “Bone marrow” cookies2 40

Injury prevention 20

Course evaluation 10

1 Guided imagery is a program of directed thoughts and suggestions that guide the imagination toward a relaxed, focused state.In this session, a child life specialist used her voice and relaxing CD to guide the students.

2 “Bone marrow cookies” are made with graham crackers, Red Hots candy, white chocolate chips, caramels, and pink frosting to representbone, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and bone marrow, respectively.

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Students reported gains in knowledgeabout child development, how children copewith illness, and children’s perspectives. Thestudents especially valued what they learnedabout children’s perspectives. One studentreported learning:

“…how important it is to try andthink from a child’s perspective. If Iwas in this kid’s shoes, what wouldmake me feel better?”

Another student reported learning:

“…to think from the kid’s perspective,to play with the kids to help themlearn. Peds is much more complicatedthan I thought, so many aspects to consider, beyond the ‘science’.”

Students realized they needed to under-stand a pediatric patient’s sense of controlbefore they could best help the patient; forexample allowing the child to have some con-trol about his or her medical care (e.g. choos-ing to have an IV placed in the right hand orleft hand or allowing the child to count tothree before the procedure is started).

Students also expressed a better under-standing of interdisciplinary care. One stu-dent wrote that the course:

“…gave me a better idea that takingcare of kids is a team effort and thechild life specialists are a great resource.”

Some students felt that they learned moreabout developmental stages and felt that hav-ing children at the course helped solidify thatknowledge. Other students, however,expressed interest in learning even moreabout child development.

CAREER EXPLORATION

Many students reported a desire to learnmore about a career in pediatrics as one oftheir primary reasons for choosing thiscourse. In the pre-course survey, 68% of stu-dents listed pediatrics or a pediatric subspe-cialty as one of their career interests. Basedon the post-course survey, 39% of respon-dents expressed an increased interest in pedi-atrics following the course, and 56%expressed no change in their career interests(17% specifically expressed that they had thesame interest in pediatrics; 39% did notspecify their career interests). Only one stu-dent expressed a decreased interest in pedi-

atrics as a career, stating:

“I wish there was more talk about whatthe pediatricians’ practice is like. I amnot sure if this is for me. I don’t knowif I have the skills to deal with kids.”

FUN

Many students expressed that the coursewas fun. One student wrote:

“I enjoyed it a lot. It was informativeAND a lot of fun. It’s been great totake a break from school and makedolls, do drum circle, etc…”

Another student wrote:

“It was awesome and a much neededbreak from the rigors of med school.”

COURSE EVALUATION

Eleven out of 19 students (58%) filled out the medical school course evaluation.Results from the course evaluation showedthat overall, nine out of 11 students felt thatthe course was very good or excellent. Ofthe students who completed this evaluation,nine (82%) felt that the course increasedtheir interest in the pediatrics/child life serv-ices. Eleven (100%) strongly agreed that stu-dents were invited to be active participantsduring this course. Ten (91%) agreed thattime devoted to participation in these coursesessions was well spent. Ten (91%) agreedthat they had a broader understanding of thistopic after taking this course. Six out of eight

students (75%) found the application of newskills to be valuable.

DISCUSSIONThis is the first study of an interdiscipli-

nary child life/pediatrics course for medicalstudents. This study showed that such acourse can improve students’ skills in inter-acting with children and improve contentknowledge about children and child life serv-ices. Courses such as this can meet LCME,AAMC and APA/COMSEP objectives.

All students reported learning at least onenew skill or piece of knowledge that theycould use in the future, showing that stu-dents gained knowledge and skills in thiscourse. One strength of this study is that theuse of open-ended questions allowed explo-ration of what the students learned and howthey learned it, instead of presupposing toomuch of what the students might learn.

This course has been offered for two sub-sequent years since this study was done.Based on student feedback, students have feltthat some of the time spent on medical playand music therapy were redundant. Thoseportions of the course have been shortened.The session on injury prevention, thoughpertinent to child development, did notseem to fit in well with the rest of the ses-sions when the authors reflected on the over-all course, so this portion was removed.Various materials have been added based onfeedback (see Table 3).

FOCUS WINTER 2011

A PUBLICATION OF THE CHILD LIFE COUNCIL 3continued on Focus page 4

TABLE 2: PEDIATRIC SCENARIOS. EACH STUDENT GIVEN ONE AGE AND ONE SCENARIO TO THINK ABOUT AND SHARE.Think about how you handle stress. What helps you cope? What makes you feel worse? Now, imagine that you are:

A 3-, 6-, 8-, or 12-year-old who has never been to the hospital. Now you have to go to the hospital for a blood test.How do you feel? What are you scared of? What would help you relax?

A 2-year-old who has never been sick, but now you are in the hospital and need an IV. How do you feel? What are you scared of? What would help you relax?

A 4-year-old who got in trouble this morning for hitting your brother. Now your stomach hurts and you have to stay in the hospital overnight. How do you feel? What are you scared of? What would help you relax?

A 10-year-old whose grandfather was ill for the last three years with cancer. Now you have to stay in the hospital for a skin infection. How do you feel? What are you scared of? What would help you relax?

A 3-, 5-, 7-, 11-, or 14-year-old who needs surgery to remove your tonsils. Your doctor says it’s a “minor procedure” but you have never had surgery before. How do you feel? What are you scared of? What would help you relax?

A 4-, 8-, or 14-year-old who has been in the hospital at least three or four times a year and had several painful procedures.Now you have to go to the hospital again for another surgery.

One limitation to this study is that thestudents were a self-selected population thatmay have been already predisposed towardspediatrics. This is also a single year/singleinstitution study and is not necessarily ableto be generalized to other institutions.However, given the construction of this elec-tive, any institution with access to child lifestaff could implement a similar experience.

In addition, a limited number of coursespots were available, resulting in a small samplesize. Although this study was not continuedand further qualitative analysis has not beendone, course evaluations have remained quitehigh and actually improved after the changeshighlighted in Table 3 were implemented.

Finally, gains in knowledge and skills wereself-reported. An area for future researchincludes looking to see if the self-reportedgains in knowledge and skills translate intoimproved patient care skills, communication

skills, and comfort working with children andfamilies in the clinical and post-graduate years.

While this elective was designed for stu-dents, the Accreditation Council on GraduateMedical Education (ACGME) also mandatesthat post-graduate learners achieve competen-cy in six core competencies (1999). Three ofthese competencies relate to our course con-tent: patient care; interpersonal and commu-nication skills; and systems-based practice.This course encourages patient care that iscompassionate and that promotes the overallhealth of the pediatric patient. Communicationand interpersonal skills with children arestrongly emphasized. The course alsodemonstrates how various departments suchas pediatrics and child life services worktogether within the health care system toassist in the care of patients. It may be bene-ficial for residency program directors to con-sider formally engaging child life faculty aspart of the curricula to help fulfill ACGMErequirements. Based on the positive feedbackfrom the students, this institution’s pediatricresidency program has begun to incorporatechild life sessions with the residents.

Traditionally, pediatric curricula focus onthe medical management of pediatric dis-eases. This new course emphasizes the otherimportant needs of pediatric patients andtheir families in an engaging and novel way.It is critical to the development of futurephysicians that they embrace multidiscipli-nary care and a comprehensive approach totheir patients. Exposure to child life pro-grams early in the curriculum can help med-ical students incorporate and appreciateinter-professional collaboration as an integralpart of patient care.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors would like to thank Daniel Fischer,LMSW, Bob Huffman, BCMT, Julie Piazza,CCLS and Jenni Gretzema, CCLS, for theirwork in developing and teaching this course.

REFERENCESAcademic Pediatric Association/Council on Medical StudentEducation in Pediatrics. (2005). COMSEP Curriculum Revision2005. Retrieved December 30, 2008 from http://www.com-sep.org/Curriculum/CurriculumCompetencies/pdf/web2005COMSEPCurricul.pdf.

Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. (1999,September). ACGME Outcome Project General Competencies.Accessed January 7, 2009 from http://www.acgme.org/out-come/comp/compMin.asp.

American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on HospitalCare. (2006). Child life services policy statement. Pediatrics,118, 1757-63.

Association of American Medical Colleges. (1998). Report I:Learning objectives for medical student education.Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges.

Brewer, S., Gleditsch, S., Syblik, D.,Tietjens, M., & Vacik, H.(2006). Pediatric anxiety: child life intervention in day surgery. J Pediatr Nurs, 21, 13-22.

Favara-Scacco, C., Smirne, G., Schiliro, G., & Di Cataldo, A.(2001). Art therapy as support for children with leukemiaduring painful procedures. Med Pediatr Onc, 36, 474-80.

Liaison Committee on Medical Education. (2008, June).LCME Accreditation Standards. Retrieved December 20, 1008from http://www.lcme.org/functionslist.htm.

Schwartzman, H. (1978). Transformations: The Anthropologyof Children’s Play. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Thompson, R., & Stanford, G. (1981). Child Life in Hospitals:Theory and Practice. Springfield, IL: Charles C.Thomas.

Thompson, R. (1995). Documenting the value of play for hospitalized children: the challenge of playing the game.ACCH Advocate, 2, 11–19.

FOCUS WINTER 2011

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About the ViewsExpressed in Focus

It is the expressed intention of Focus toprovide a venue for professional sharingon clinical issues, programs, and interven-tions. The views presented in any articleare those of the author. All submissionsare reviewed for content, relevance, andaccuracy prior to publication.

REVIEW BOARDKatherine Bennett, MEd, CCLS

Mary Bronstein, MA, MS, CCLS

Elizabeth Cook, MS, CCLS

Joy M. Daugherty, MBA/HCM, CCLS

Kathryn (Kat) Davitt, MOT, OTR, CCLS

Thomas M. Hobson, MHA, MMEd,CCLS, MT-BC

Cinda McDonald, MEd, RDH, CCLS

Julie C. Parker, MS, CCLS

Allison Riggs, MS, CCLS

Kimberly Stephens, MPA, CCLS

Joan Turner, PhD, CCLS

Janine Zabriskie, MEd, CCLS

TABLE 3: MATERIAL ADDED TO COURSE.ACTIVITY RATIONALE TIME IN MINUTES

Didactic lecture on chronic illness To provide additional background 10and vulnerable child syndrome

Guest speaker- teenager with chronic illness Feedback that students wanted more 30interaction with patients

Pictures on central lines Background for medical play with dolls and central lines 5

Didactic lecture on examining pediatric Student Request 15patients and demonstration of exam using pediatric volunteer

Question and answer time regarding Common request 15career in pediatrics



in progress, new trends and so on. Ithink we need lots of research in this areaand, at the same time, we need theseresults to be shared with physicians andnurses to create a common culture in thisfield and to achieve more considerationand respect for the work in this area.

5. I found very stimulating the internation-al session because I had the chance tomeet other colleagues from all over theworld, to create connections with someof them and to realize that, despite obvious differences due to culture, healthsystem organization, availability ofresources, etc., ill children do have thesame needs, and the same rights every-where and it is mandatory for us to provide them all the best they deserve.

6. And last but not least, I really enjoyedthe CLC hospitality and the considera-tion you demonstrated. You made usreally feel like V.I.G. (Very ImportantGuests….) I did appreciate it very, very much!!

Regarding current developments afterour arrival back in Italy, I can summarizethe following points:

1. In June we had a plenary session at ourDepartment of Pediatrics of Padovawhere one of my colleagues, who alsoattended the CLC conference with me,presented a summary of the experience atthe conference. Participants includedpsychologists, educators (the other mem-bers of our child life team that didn’tcome to the conference), volunteers,nurses, students (doing their internshipin the child life service) for a total of 50individuals, more or less.

2. In July, we had two other meetings forthe child life staff (7 members), wherespecific topics of the conference werepresented and discussed. We focusedparticularly on the professional profileand the specific training to become certi-fied, which raised a great, great interest!

3. Since my staff found very interesting andstimulating the new book the Handbookof Child Life, but experienced difficultiesdue to the English version, I invited them

to translate it. It will take time… but inthe meanwhile I’m looking for an editorthat will print it in Italian, so that thisuseful resource can be made available forprofessionals of our country.

And to finish, the future prospects:

1. We are now involved in the last steps of aresearch project named “Curare con ilSorriso” (a sort of “Caring with Smile”)which is aimed to study a model of childlife suitable for pediatric wards or hospi-tals of our region. The project, whichwas in fact founded by the regional gov-ernment, will be completed in the nextfew months.

2. The last action of the project will be atwo day conference where the results ofthe project will be presented, and confer-ence attendees will discuss new methodsof research and present several Italianexperiences in this field. After my expe-rience at CLC conference, I would liketo offer others the chance to hear lecturesfrom international speakers and to shareItalian experiences with them. I think itcould be a great opportunity to promotein Italy “the child life philosophy.” Forthis reason, I will include lectures about:

· Sixty years of history and developmentof child life in the U.S.

· Why child life is relevant in the care ofill children and what child life special-ist can do for them

· What are the operative tools that a childlife specialist can use in his everydaywork with children and how they work

· What specific training is necessary tobecome certified in child life

· What are current trends in research inchild life and which perspective of col-laborative studies can be expected

3. Another interesting prospect for the nextyear is an academic project. The Directorof the Department of Pediatrics where Iwork has found very interesting my pro-posal to start a post graduate trainingprogram in child life dedicated to Italianand foreign educators, psychologists, and

registered nurses. We are now preparingthe program to be presented to the boardof our University for approval. Hopefullyit will start in January 2012. Teachers ofthe program will be enrolled on an inter-national basis and attendees, during theirtraining program, could have the chanceto prepare themselves for the U.S. CCLScertification. It has no legal value in Italybut could be a relevant “added value” tothe master degree obtained at the end ofthe training program.

The last future prospect from Italy isnot a good one!

Due to cuts in funding and lack ofresources from our public and private spon-sors and also to the little attention to the illchildren’s needs from our administrators, thefuture of my little “child life service” (the“Servizio Gioco e Benessere”) is very uncer-tain. Our Hospital and our University willnot sustain the project because it is not theirpriority; the local government allocatesresources in other areas; and private sponsorsdon’t seem very interested in it. TheAssociation that sustains the “Servizio Giocoand Benessere” can afford expenses for salaryof our educators and psychologists until theend of 2010, then... who knows??? I spend alot of time in fund raising but probably it isnot enough. The situation is a little bit betterin other pediatric hospitals in Italy but every-where shortage of resources and a low under-standing in this area make child life lessimportant compared with other topics ofmedicine!!!

I close my report to the CLC with mymost sincere gratitude for the great chanceyou offered to me. The days spent inPhoenix allow me to feel less alone and tocontinue my personal fight to make child lifea reality here in Italy. I do believe we needit, because ill children deserve it.

Thank you so much again.

CLC will be offering international scholar-ships again in 2011. If you come to confer-ence, be sure to say hello to our scholarshipwinners! For more information about thescholarships, including application infor-mation, please visit the CLC website.

International PerspectiveContinued from page 5



2010 was aneventful year forthe Child Life

Council. Many new products and programswere launched, and there were importantenhancements in existing services and pro-grams. CLC committees and task forces andthe CLC Board carried through a series ofinitiatives that promise to be landmarks inthe evolution of the child life profession.

NEW PROGRAMS: TRANSLATING TECHNOLOGYINTO MEMBER SERVICES

In the past two decades, technology hasevolved dramatically, changing the way weconduct all aspects of our lives ranging frombusiness to entertainment, and the way serv-ices are delivered to us in our homes and atwork. CLC made a number of advances inhow we are applying the latest developmentsin technology to offer new and more sophis-ticated programs and services to members.CLC implemented no fewer than five newonline services and tools over the past 15months that offer improved ways of organiz-ing and delivering information:

• Webinars – After hosting a debut webinarin late 2009, CLC offered six webinars in2010 that addressed topics ranging fromplay to ethics to clinical ladders. We willbe continuing this successful program—offering six webinars and potentiallymore— in 2011.

• Child Life News Monthly – The first issueof the e-newsletter Child Life News Monthlywas distributed to all members inDecember 2009, and it continued as amonthly publication throughout 2010.More than 100 research and news articlesrelevant to the child life community wereabstracted over the course of the year.

• The Child Life Marketplace – InFebruary 2010, CLC launched this onlinedirectory of organizations providing prod-ucts and services of interest to child lifeprofessionals. There are currently morethan 40 listed providers, offering distrac-

tion toys, arts and crafts supplies, play-room equipment and design services, educational opportunities for child lifespecialists, and much more.

• Professional Networking – In early June2010, we launched CLC Community, aprofessional networking platform based ona simple premise: that the greatest powerand value of a professional association rests in the expertise of its members.Facilitating the exchange of ideas, experi-ences, and knowledge among members is among the most important memberservices that an association can provide.This is what CLC Community is designedto do.

• The Directory of Child Life Programs –2010 also saw the introduction of anonline Directory of Child Life Programs.Previous editions of the Directory hadbeen print only. More than 350 programsresponded to a request to input new anddetailed information into the online data-base during the months of August andSeptember, and the new Directory waspublicly launched in October and is available at no charge to members.

While these are new, concrete programsand services that we saw come to full fruitionin 2010, I need to add one more thing hereabout how CLC has been using technology –and the wonderful collaboration of ourmembers – to solicit direct member input tohelp the association make informed decisionson program priorities and service delivery.At one time, the process of manually survey-ing members—making copies, stuffingenvelopes, waiting for the return of complet-ed surveys, coding and then tabulatingresponses—could be costly, and took literallyweeks of labor-intensive activity. But devel-opments in online technology have changedall of that. While we try not to “oversurvey”our members, we now have the ability todevelop, distribute, and begin analyzingmember feedback in a matter of days, oreven hours. We greatly appreciate yourongoing responsiveness and participation in

this important process, which leads to betterdecisions, more informed priority-setting,and more timely provision of services thanhas ever before been possible.

COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES:A YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENT INADVANCING THE PROFESSION

CLC currently has 12 committees, twomanagement groups, and six task forces.Each now reports at least twice annually onCLC Community with blogs about whatthey have recently accomplished and what iscoming down the road.

These CLC volunteer groups, comprisedof nearly 200 individual CLC members, haveaccomplished an impressive amount of workin the past year, helping to move CLC for-ward and, more directly, advancing the pro-fession of child life. Their achievements aretoo numerous to recount here in their entire-ty, but one need only look at the specialreport outlining recent Board decisions(“CLC Board of Directors Approves Far-Reaching Initiatives & Policy Changes atNovember Meeting,” emailed Dec. 9, 2010)to appreciate the sheer number and scope ofmany of those accomplishments and recom-mendations.

Because their work is so important andbecause we have so many members willingand eager to contribute, CLC makes specialefforts for these groups to be inclusive, wel-coming professional members at all levels ofexperience to volunteer. We issue an opencall for participation each year in January,and try to offer the opportunity to serve toas many who express an interest as possible.

CONFERENCE, BULLETIN, ANDCERTIFICATION

While we are very proud of the new pro-grams and services that have been unveiledthis past year and with the enormous stridesmade by CLC committees and task forces,we have also been pleased with the progressin some of our most longstanding and stillthe most visible programs, such as theAnnual Conference, the Bulletin, and theCertification program.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PHOENIX

Nearly 1,000 child life specialists attendedthe 28th Annual Conference on ProfessionalIssues in Phoenix, Arizona in June.Attendees had a total of 52 professional

2010: A Banner YearCHILD LIFE COUNCILANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERSHIPDennis Reynolds, MA, CAE, Executive Director



development workshops to select from dur-ing the main part of the conference, alongwith 9 pre- and post-conference intensives.Nearly 100 attendees went on a pre-confer-ence tour of Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

The Conference opened with an extremelywell-received keynote address, “IntegrativePediatric Pain Management and PalliativeCare” by Stefan Friedrichsdorf, MD, fromthe Children’s Hospitals and Clinics ofMinnesota. It ended with a rousing closingsession that invited audience participation,“Introducing Rhythm to Your Practice” ledby Frank Thompson, MBA, founder ofArizona Rhythm Connection. CLC present-ed several awards during the opening andclosing sessions: the Distinguished ServiceAward was given to Missi Hicks, MS, CCLS,LPC, RPT-S; the inaugural Mary BarkeyClinical Excellence Award went to BindySweett, CCLS; and the Spirit of GivingAwards were presented to the StarlightChildren’s Foundation and ChuckRumbarger, CAE. When the educationalsessions were not in full swing, there werenetworking sessions, informative poster presentations, receptions and lunches, and opportunities to browse an exhibit hallfeaturing nearly 50 exhibitors.

Congratulations go to Kristin Maier,CCLS, who was the chair of the 2010 AnnualConference, and her committee for makingsuch an outstanding event, and the LocalHost Committee Co-Chairs Lori Takeuchi,MPA, CCLS, and Jenni Rogers, MS, CCLS,CTRS, and the Local Host Committee formaking CLC attendees feel so at home inPhoenix. And a very special thanks to our 20 sponsors who collectively contributed justover $75,000. Sponsor contributions are vitalto the success of the conference each year;they allow us to put on the quality conferenceprograms and events that members have cometo expect, but still keep registration fees belowthe actual cost of putting on the event. Thisyear’s Gold level sponsors ($10,000) wereTexas Children’s Hospital and Children’sHospital Boston.

THE BULLETIN

According to feedback collected in therecent member survey, the quarterly Bulletinremains one of the most highly valued bene-fits of CLC membership. Articles in theBulletin report in part on CLC news andevents, but as we become more reliant onelectronic media to convey time-sensitive

updates from the organization, the contentof the Bulletin is concentrated more onresearch and practice-related articles. In2010, the popular “Child Life Alphabet”series included articles entitled “F is forFear,” “G is for Gender Roles,” “H is forHealthcare Educators,” and “I is forInstitutional Review Board.” The Focussection of each issue contains one or twoconceptual or scholarly research articles, andthis year included explorations of suchdiverse topics as problem solving deficit dis-order, effectiveness of a virtual community inaugmenting the hopefulness of pediatriccamping, teaching how to think like a childlife specialist, and applying learning theoriesto teaching school-age oncology patients.We also saw the transition of editors in2010, with Anne Luebering Mohl, PhD,CCLS taking on the executive editor roleupon the completion of an outstanding two-year term by Joan Turner, PhD, CCLS.

CERTIFICATION

Certification is a cornerstone of CLC andthe child life profession, and the programexperienced some major changes in 2010.Early in 2010, CLC members approved achange to the bylaws that allowed the structureof the three-person core Child Life CertifyingCommittee (CLCC) to be replaced with aseven-member committee, in order to alleviatethe large amount of work and responsibilitythat formerly was shouldered by the first, sec-ond and third year chairs alone.

There were also structural changes in theadministration of the Child LifeCertification Exam. We changed testing

agencies in early 2010, and for the first time,CLC offered computer-based testing duringthe fall administration of the exam. Whereasprevious pen-and-pencil administrationswere offered in 4 to 6 cities in the fall, thatadministration is now offered in more than300 cities worldwide. The spring adminis-tration, at least for the foreseeable future, will remain a paper-and-pencil administra-tion offered only at the beginning of theCLC Annual Conference. More than 500individuals took the Child Life CertificationExam in 2010 with almost 96% becomingcertified.

STAYING STRONG ANDLOOKING AHEAD

Despite uncertain economic times, CLC has been fortunate to maintain strongmembership numbers. At the end of 2010,CLC had 4,373 members, which represents a 7.6% growth in membership for the year,and a two-year growth in membership of13.2%.

Likewise, we have had financially stableyears, with our revenues exceeding ourexpenses in both 2009 and 2010. There werea number of positive factors contributing tothis, but very central among them was CLCcontrolling its expenses tightly, with expensesin 2010 only 3.3% higher than even twoyears before in 2008. This, combined withsolid membership, certification, and confer-ence numbers, plus new programs and servic-es and good returns on our investments,resulted in CLC being able to operate in theblack in 2010 as it also had in 2009.

With a banner year behind us, we areeager to move forward with even more vigorin 2011. Our committees and task forcescontinue to boldly take on the most impor-tant issues facing the evolution of the childlife profession. I am predicting that we willhave more attendees at the 2011 AnnualConference than in any previous year (2007and 2008 had about 1,050 attendees). Ihope you will all join us in Chicago and helpprove me right! We will also continue devel-oping and refining our newer programs andservices. In the meantime, the CLC Boardwill be engaged in a strategic planningprocess during the year, identifying thebiggest issues, needs, and opportunities forCLC and the child life profession, andbeginning to chart a course for the yearsahead. It’s going to be a very good year.

With a banner year behind us,

we are eager to move forward

with even more vigor in 2011.

Our committees and task forces

continue to boldly take on

the most important issues

facing the evolution of the

child life profession.

grow and develop, it is clear that its visionfor the future will need to include researchand scholarship. Each individual academicor clinical practitioner may be called upon toparticipate in and contribute to that vision insome way. “...the profession is going to contin-ue to be ‘stuck’ unless we move ahead with somecredible evidence-based research, and the mem-bership needs to be made aware of the connec-tion between the need to invest in this researchand their future career stability.” This workhas begun with the education efforts madeby both the Evidence-Based Practice and theProfessional Resources Committees, and thepublication of the Child Life CouncilEvidence-Based Practice Statements. Thiswork is extended by the Academic TaskForce as that group examines the educationand training most necessary to achieve suc-cess in this profession. Ultimately, however,it will be the collaboration of individuals thatwill likely have the most impact on thedevelopment of evidence that supports thechild life role.

A common suggestion from those withadvanced degrees is that collaboration is nec-essary in order to build an evidence-basedpractice in the child life community. Ofcourse, collaboration can take many forms.First, the sharing of stories of the variouspathways and experiences leading to scholar-ship and research can inspire others. As peo-ple begin to share their stories and exchangeinformation, consensus on research trainingand priorities may be illustrated. Second,partnerships among clinicians, academics,and allied professionals may be developed asshared interests and priorities are discussedand acted upon. “Academic faculty can sup-port clinical research interests and work collab-oratively to design research projects and analyzedata that offer evidence for continued practice.”Third, interdisciplinary partnerships result-ing in published research can position childlife practice well in the realm of a legitimatefield of research. A final suggestion reflects aneed for the Child Life Council to also col-laborate: “…perhaps our organization canpartner with another organization to havesome [publication] opportunities available?” In sum, “Child life practitioners andresearchers alike probably need to establish networks with like-minded professions around

topics that are central to both disciplines.”

The clear consensus that emerged fromour discussion is that “the child life professionneeds to articulate meaningful outcomes to jus-tify continuation as a service.” Those withadvanced degrees who participated in thisdiscussion add a unique perspective to theconversations in the child life communityaround research and scholarship. Regardlessof your current pathway, possibilities toadvance child life research and scholarshipare available – but the range of possibilities issometimes hard to envision unless those onthe “kind of crazy path” share their stories.Whether you opt to pursue a higher degree,explore an interest in research, search forpartners to study an intriguing question, orpine for a Child Life Journal to support yourclinical practice, you can play a role in theadvancement of the field of child life. Justreading this article to the end reveals thatyou have at least a spark of interest – oneaim of the Research and Scholarship TaskForce is to take that spark and use it to buildcollaborative efforts across the child life com-munity and inspire greater research andscholarship activity that supports child lifepractice.



Academic PathwaysContinued from page 6

skills, assertiveness, and self-esteem.

Attendees will have the opportunity tochoose from three plenary sessions takingplace on Saturday, May 28:

• What Matters Most: HonoringRelationship through the Co-Creation of RitualKathie Kobler, MS, APN, PCNS-BCAdvocate Lutheran General Hospital

• Cultivating Self-Care Practice to Avoid Compassion FatigueSusan “Boon” Murray, EdD, CCLS, CTRSProfessor, University of Wisconsin La Crosse

• Breathe, Relax, ImagineNancy Klein, MACo-Founder, InnerCoaching

Thursday pre-conference offerings willinclude two full-day intensives:

• A Live Clinical Supervision Group

• Writing & Research: Practice for thePractitioner

and six half-day intensives:

• Play is the Work of the Child AND of theChild Life Specialist: Making Play a VitalPart of Your Day and Theirs

• Student Supervision: Maximizing PotentialThrough Coaching and Effective Feedback

• Learning to SOAR™: A Strengths-BasedApproach to Strategic Planning

• Looking at Children with New Eyes: TheInfluence of Sensory Processing on Child Life

• Supporting the Healing Community withClosed-Circuit, Interactive Television

• How to Grow Your Precepting Garden

For more information about these andother conference events, please refer to thefull conference program, which was mailedin early January. Online registration openedon Wednesday, January 6th. To downloadan electronic version of the program, or tomake hotel reservations at the special CLCconference rate—$159 per night (single/dou-ble), plus tax—please visit the AnnualConference section of the CLC website atwww.childlife.org. To ensure room availabil-ity at The Sheraton Chicago Hotel &Towers, be sure to make your hotel reserva-tions early!

EARLY REGISTRATION FEES(Deadline of March 18, 2011)

Professionals: CLC Members $335Non-Members $425

Full-time Students and Retired Professionals:CLC Members $250Non-Members $350

Soaring to New Heights!Continued from page 1

reduce working hours, and it is essential toevaluate whether you are suited for job shar-ing before working on the logistics of settingup the arrangement. The authors successful-ly shared one full-time position in a busyoutpatient oncology clinic for two years, and have identified some personal traits andconsiderations that are essential for creatingand maintaining a successful job share relationship.

• Both you and your partner will need tobe team players. You must both recog-nize that you will be sharing, not splitting,one position. This means that you willneed to consider yourselves as interchange-able when it comes to working with unitstaff and patients, as well as making deci-sions about playroom space, budgeting,and organization. You and your partnermust be willing to share control, yet eachmust have an exceptionally high level ofcommitment to your shared work area.

• Both you and your partner will need tobe flexible. Although you will both havethe same ultimate goal of greater patientsupport and coping, you will need to rec-ognize and validate the value of differingstyles of interaction that each partner mayhave with patients, families, and staff.Depending on the position you are shar-ing, you may need to be flexible aboutsuch things as scheduling work hours andcoming in on off hours for special eventsor meetings.

• Both you and your partner will need tobe diligent about communication. Youwill need to commit to an ongoingexchange of information in various forms(verbal, charting, emails, phone calls), andto be willing to be contacted during yourtime off as questions and issues arise. Thisis an essential aspect of presenting your-selves as interchangeable; each partnershould have as much of the same job- andpatient-related information as possible.

• Both you and your partner must consid-er the financial implications of part-time hours and the possibility of reducedemployee benefits. Plan ahead and expectthe unexpected. Would you be able tocontinue the arrangement with shifts inthe economy or job loss within the family?

• Both you and your partner must be willing to work harder and take on agreater workload than if you were work-ing a typical part-time job. Each of you isresponsible for knowing the ins and outs ofthe full-time position: patient status andneeds, staff preferences and personalities,departmental obligations. Organizationand time management are necessary to keepthe work from becoming overwhelming.

Evaluating whether you are suited to theunique demands of job sharing is only thefirst step as you think about whether this canbe a feasible arrangement for you and yourworkplace. Done well, job sharing can be afulfilling way to move toward achievingenhanced work/life balance.

J is for Job ShareContinued from page 1



in her last days in hospice, she was still mak-ing notes and compiling papers and bookstowards her continuing contributions to theChild Life Council Archives, making herwork available to students and others.

Joan was active in the Association for theCare of Children’s Health, the organizationwhich helped found the Child Life Council.With CLC, she served on the Board, helpedwrite the Program Review Guidelines, andworked on committees. She was active in NewYork child life networking, then in California as

well, when she retired there.

Joan served on the Board at PediatricProjects Inc., and helped develop medicaltoys and books, publications, bibliographies,and presentations. Her international con-tacts were important too, from her master’sin Social Work in Australia, to her profes-sional and personal visits to Sweden, China,and other countries where she promoted psy-chosocial care.

You can read more about Joan Chan onthe Child Life Council website section onrecipients of the CLC Distinguished ServiceAward. The legacies of our early child lifespecialists are the building blocks to our cur-rent and future child life work.

Joan ChanContinued from page 3

Milestones Brenda Gordley, CCLS, of the Research andScholarship Task Force, presented a researchposter at the 8th International Symposium onPediatric Pain in Acapulco, Mexico, March, 2010.The title was “Coaching the Distraction Coach:The Development of a New Tool”

Jessika Morris, CCLS, will be a co-presenter on aPoster Presentation to be given at the Society forResearch in Child Development 2011 BiennialMeeting in Montreal, Canada: Audley-Piotrowski,S. R., Hsueh,Y., Morris, J.C., Kibe, G., & Drabowicz,J.A. (2011). Are respect behaviors moral? Usingsocial domain theory to examine pro-social behaviors in young children.

REGISTER NOW!CHILD LIFE COUNCIL

29TH ANNUALCONFERENCE ON

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

MAY 26-29, 2011SHERATON CHICAGO

HOTEL & TOWERS

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS


CLC CalendarJANUARY 2011

31 Child Life Professional Certification Exam applications due for those educated outside of the U.S. or Canada31 Certification maintenance payments due for Child Life Professional Certification

FEBRUARY18 CLC Committee volunteer application deadline18 CLC Worldwide Outreach Scholarship Applications Due

MARCH1-31 Celebrate Child Life Month!

18 Early bird deadline for lowest CLC Annual Conference registration fee31 Child Life Professional Certification Exam applications due for those educated in the U.S. or Canada31 End of certification maintenance fee grace period (deadline to pay with a late fee)

APRIL15 Deadline for submissions for the summer issue of Bulletin/Focus 18 CLC Annual Conference regular registration rate deadline

MAY1 Deadline for written requests to withdraw from the May Child Life Professional Certification Exam

26 Child Life Professional Certification Exam Administration, Chicago, Illinois26-29 CLC 29th Annual Conference on Professional Issues, Chicago, Illinois

JUNE30 Deadline to apply to recertify through Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

11821 Parklawn Drive, Suite 310Rockville, MD 20852-2539

ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED

FSC LOGO HERE ☛

CLC ONLINE ELECTIONSThe 2011 elections for the CLC Board ofDirectors will take place this spring. CLC nowholds its elections online and an electronicballot will be emailed to each member withvoting privileges. As per the election proce-dures adopted by the membership last year,the CLC Nominating Committee will present a slate of recommended candidates forapproval. In constituting a slate, theNominating Committee considers all namesput forward and each qualified candidateparticipates in an assessment and interviewprocess to identify their interests andstrengths in serving the Child Life Council.

To learn more about the nominationsprocess, the primary duties of a Board member, and the attributes and qualifica-tions sought in CLC leaders, please visit theNominations & Voting section of the CLC website at http://www.childlife.org/Membership/NominationsandVoting.cfm.

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