Playing as a therapeutic instrument in the view of a health care team

Abstract

The act of playing represents an important tool for the children to understand the world that surrounds them and what happens with them, making possible the elaboration of conflicts, frustrations and traumas. We aimed to investigate the level of approval and efficacy of the volunteer activities developed at Alcides Carneiro University Hospital, in the view of health professionals. This was a descriptive and field research, carried out at a public hospital in Campina Grande, Paraíba State, Brazil, in May 2004. A questionnaire with objective and subjective questions about volunteer activities developed at the pediatric service was given to the health care team. Among the 11 research subjects, seven of them stated that this work reduces the hospitalization period for children, and that the approval for clinic procedures is improved, thus interfering in a positive way. All interviewees would recommend this work to other institutions that offer care for children. In the view of most, the benefit of the volunteer activities outweighs the risk of cross-infection. We observed approval by health professionals to the volunteer activities directed to hospitalized children. The same happened with the recreation and the clown’s jokes, which reduced the stress caused by the hospitalization and favored the approval of clinic procedures by the patients.