Services for Children and Families

Preparing for a Hospital Stay

Child life specialists help prepare children and families for hospital experiences by explaining medical procedures and tests in a simple, honest, and developmentally appropriate manner. Tactile objects such as teaching dolls, models, medical equipment, and photos are often used with a child and/or family to enhance teaching and understanding. 

Emotional Support

Child life specialists focus on the feeling aspects of hospitalization. Acknowledging and validating the hospital experience is potentially anxiety producing. Child life specialists facilitate children and families to utilize existing coping skills. Child life specialists also work to create a comfortable and supportive environment for patients and families to express themselves. 

Play

Child life embraces the value of play in healing. Specialists work to enhance the optimal growth and development of infants, children and adolescents through play.

Medical Play

Opportunities for familiarization, education, and integration of information are facilitated through the use of medical equipment. Through play, children’s misconceptions are often identified, clarified, and feelings and concerns validated. 

Accompaniment

Support is provided to children and families before, during and after medical procedures, treatment room experiences, and surgery. Children are helped in identifying and utilizing positive coping responses.

School Program

The school teacher at MetroHealth is provided by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and offers a variety of benefits for our school-aged patients. The school teacher meets with patients in grades K- 12 in the areas of both regular and special education to provide academic services in the least restrictive environment.

The school teacher also collaborates with parents, guardians, home school districts and hospital staff to provide planning and implementation of developmentally appropriate curriculum to students while admitted to MetroHeath Medical Center. If necessary, home instruction is arranged for children who may need six or more weeks of recuperation at home before returning to school, as well as provide emotional support and planning for the student’s return to home and school. 

Playrooms and Facilities

• The Tree House
  The Michael J. Bohdan Tree House, just steps away from the Inpatient Pediatric Unit at MetroHealth Medical Center, is a friendly, colorful, interactive space that inspires and encourages hospitalized children through respite and discovery. They engage in active play, spend quiet time with books and crafts, and enjoy special events. Activity centers include a sandbox and a water play area. For young patients and their families, the space fosters a sense of connectivity to others and ultimately, wellness. The space is a window to the outside world for patients who have been living inside the hospital.
• Playrooms
  The playrooms on the fourth floor of MetroHealth Medical Center are activity centers for pediatric patients. Children can enjoy a variety of age-appropriate toys and games, and engage with child life specialists in a variety of activities.
• Teen Room
  Near the inpatient pediatric unit at MetroHealth Medical Center, teens will find a space they can call their own. The Teen Room is equipped with a computer, an arcade video game, video game systems and an iPad. Adolescent patients can enjoy this space under the supervision of a family member or child life specialist.