Child Life Month 2024

Written by Christina York, CEO

Every March we look forward to celebrating Child Life Month. Not just because SpellBound as a company is aligned with the values that child life specialists represent. Not just because we make tools for child life specialists. But because I am a parent who has experienced the value of child life specialists first hand with my own children. And every person who works at SpellBound who has children understands this as well. As parents, we have all experienced those tears before a shot, anxiety before an MRI or fear in the ER with our kids. Many of us at SpellBound have been fortunate to have experienced the support of child life at some really great hospitals and that is why we always look forward to showing gratitude.

The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on child life services states: “Child life programs are an important component of pediatric hospital-based care; they address the psychosocial concerns that accompany hospitalization and other health care experiences. Child life specialists focus on the optimal development and well-being of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults while promoting coping skills and minimizing the adverse effects of hospitalization, health care encounters, and/or other potentially stressful experiences.” However, over the last few years I have not seen child life’s role in pediatric psychosocial support grow. I’ve seen hospitals place increased value on patient experience and the importance of distraction therapy for managing pain, But I have longed to see more of a discourse that recognizes the contribution to psychosocial well-being that child life specialists bring to patients during their healthcare journey. While we have seen the expansion of some child life education programs, even extending into masters degrees, I have not seen child life included more frequently in the psychosocial narrative, nor have I seen significant growth in child life team sizes. We need to change that.

At SpellBound, we value the contributions of child life in many ways:

1. We consult child life during product development, getting key feedback and subject matter expertise as we develop pediatric products.

2. We include child life in our research studies as equal contributors and have had a child life specialist create an instrument as part of a large, NIH-backed study.

3. We have co-authored papers with child life, valuing their expertise and contribution to the literature.

4. We meet with child life regularly to better understand how the healthcare journey is changing and evolving for children, what needs are unmet, and what we can do to better support them in their work.

So to honor all the ways that child life has given back to our children and our company we are doing two things:

1. We are holding a giveaway for one of our most popular distraction tools, Game Pack. The winner will get a year of the game of their choice at their hospital.

2. We are addressing budgetary limitations by partnering with foundations and charities to bring tools to child life teams that need them. For example, we’ve been working with Harrison’s Heroes to bring SpellBound tools to the child life teams at 3 hospitals in Texas. Reach out to us if you’d like to learn more.

Thank you child life! We celebrate you!