Child Life Services

Radiation and proton therapy may be the appropriate treatment for certain pediatric tumors, but we understand it can seem overwhelming for children and their families. At Texas Center for Proton Therapy, our full time child life specialist works alongside the medical team to help alleviate the stress and anxiety often associated with illness and medical procedures while promoting positive coping throughout the treatment process.

Child life specialists are experts in child development and work closely with children of all ages by providing developmentally appropriate interventions to help prepare for medical procedures and cope with the treatment process. Through the use of play, medical play, and expressive activities, our child life specialist helps children and teenagers understand their illness and medical procedures and develop positive coping skills. We recognize that children are not just smaller adults, and our child life specialist works alongside the medical team throughout the treatment process to provide the very best care to help meet the unique and special needs of our pediatric patients.

Services

1. Preparation and Education – provide medical play opportunities and developmentally appropriate hands-on explanations of upcoming medical procedures to enhance each child’s understanding of the proton radiation treatment process.
2. Procedural Support - assist children during potentially stressful medical procedures by offering distraction and coping technique
3. Emotional Support - help children and their families navigate the emotional and physically demanding process of coping with a new diagnosis and proton radiation treatment
4. Play – facilitate therapeutic and recreational play opportunities to enhance normalization of the medical environment and promote normal growth and development