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Category: Physical Health
The Oxford Brain Story: Embedding an understanding of the importance of the early years
22 October 2024
In this keynote, Louise Dalton presents her programme of work entitled the Oxford Brain Story.
Centring children’s lived experiences in understanding the importance of play in hospitals
8 July 2024
We wanted to understand what playing in hospital is like from the perspectives and experiences of young children themselves.
Why and how do healthcare professionals use play in clinical practice?
1 March 2024
We explored what healthcare professionals in different roles and different countries understood to be important and useful about the role of play in paediatric practice. According to healthcare professionals, play in clinical practice can be used to communicate and build relationships with paediatric patients and thus potentially help provide patient-centred care.
Do educational programmes for healthcare professionals focus on play?
1 March 2024
This literature review looked at the evidence to understand how educational programmes for healthcare professionals include the use of play. It found that play is not consistently or systematically integrated into medical education.
Play in the face of adversity
1 November 2023
Read our paper for the Scottish Children's Commissioner about the value of play for children in the asylum seeking system.
Exploring play in hospitals in Spain, Australia and England
9 May 2023
In this article, Paulina reflects on her travels and what she has learned about Health Play Specialists and their importance to children in hospital.
Play, physical activity, and physical health
5 April 2023
How can active play help improve children's access to physical activity and their physical health?
Children’s Perspectives and Experiences of Play in Hospital
8 September 2022
In this talk, PEDAL PhD student Kelsey Graber presents their doctoral research – which seeks to investigate children’s own perspectives and experiences of play in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. This presentation was recorded on 8th September 2022 as part of the PEDAL Play Conference, an event which brought together play researchers interested in play […]
Play as Resilience, Play as Mastery: Supporting Practitioners and Families Across the UK
8 September 2022
Play is a child’s normal. Play is both a powerful means of communication, and how we understand the world that we live in. Starlight Children’s Foundation is committed to protecting the right of all children to have opportunities to play, particularly children who are seriously ill and/or engaged with the UK healthcare system on a […]
How to communicate with children, according to Health Play Specialists in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study
2 August 2022
Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola