End Of Life Study

Most people will agree that a child should never have to go through an accident, a chronic illness, or even hospitalization because he or she is so young and innocent; however, it is a sad reality that children around the world are hospitalized daily for an assortment of medical reasons. Children who undergo hospitalization experience a loss of normalcy and autonomy. Oftentimes, children who are hospitalized are faced with difficult treatment plans that can disrupt his or her once seemingly normal life. Unfortunately, death is an actual possibility for some children who are hospitalized, which can be a difficult concept to grasp. The understanding of death varies by chronological age, personality, family situations, and developmental ages. Child life specialists (CLS) play a vital role when a family finds themselves dealing with end-of-life care for a child. CLS provide education, emotional support, preparation, and advocacy to both the patient and the family. CLS provide play-based psychosocial interventions to patients and their families in order to minimize stress in the hospital environment. It is important that students emerging into the child life field are knowledgeable on end-of-life situations and are able to provide the best psychosocial care to children and families while minimizing their stress during these difficult times.

Due to the crucial role that CLS play during end-of-life situations, the authors of this quantitative study aimed to uncover to what extent the topic of death and dying is taught in CLS education