Puppets and plays make visiting the hospital palatable

The Montreal Children's Hospital of the MUHC celebrates Child Life Month on March 24

Going to the hospital for tests and treatments can be an unnerving experience for adults. Just imagine how scary it can be for children. To help kids cope with their stress, anxiety or fear, the Child Life Specialists of the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre use puppets, plays and art projects to help kids cope better with their hospital experience.

Child Life Specialists are professionals devoted to making a child's healthcare experience understandable and as close to normal life as possible. They use play, education and self-expression to promote the psychological well-being and development of infants, children and adolescents, and through this, provide support to their families as well.

On Wednesday, March 24, from 1:30 pm to 4 pm, the Child Life Specialists at the Children's are hosting a "carnival" to demonstrate the scope and the importance of their work.

You can learn how activities as simple as colouring and drawing help normalize a hospital visit for kids; meet a giant puppet used to demonstrate different procedures like blood tests; watch children put casts on their fingers to know what a broken arm or leg feels like.

The purpose of Child Life Month is to celebrate and promote an understanding of the child life profession and let the public know that the Montreal Children's Hospital and more than 400 other institutions around the world offer child life services in order to humanize the healthcare experience for children and families. From the emergency department to the neonatal intensive care unit, child life specialists serve children suffering everything from minor illnesses and injuries to chronic, critical and terminal illnesses.

The media is invited to the carnival on March 24. Please let us know in advance if you will attend.