CHILD LIFE AND
FAMILY STUDIES
UW-Stevens Point program offers careers in caring for children when they need it most When a child is sick, needs emergency stitches or an MRI, a hospital or clinic visit can be scary. A child life specialist can ease the anxiety for both the patient and parents. By demonstrating the use of medical equipment in a nonthreatening manner, offering coping plans or distractions in the form of a game or a comforting stuffed animal, child life specialists (CLS) help prepare the patient for procedures. This normalizes the environment and makes it less stressful for patients, their families and health providers. For Casey Brodhagen of Wausau, a May 2020 graduate in family and consumer sciences, a career as a child life specialist blends her interests in health care and child development. “This is a perfect fit for me,” she said. “The focus is always on the children, with added support for parents and siblings. Child life specialists teach them about their diagnosis, prepare them for procedures, create and implement coping plans, and offer developmentally appropriate toys and activities to help foster a sense of normalcy while they’re in the hospital to promote positive coping.
We also provide memory-making and death and bereavement support for surviving family members or for a child who loses a loved one.” Learning the skills needed for this kind of patient care takes many hours of education, hands-on experience and a qualifying exam for certification. The only public university in the state with a CLS program, UW-Stevens Point offers a Child Life Specialist Preparation Certificate, which integrates with majors in family and consumer science, sociology, psychology or health sciences. The certificate requires 10 courses in the topics of child development, human anatomy, medical terminology, ethics, family systems, research, therapeutic play and grief and loss. In addition, a 600-hour internship and qualifying exam are required. Many students also complete a practicum, which aids their placement into competitive internship opportunities across the country. Two years ago, Brodhagen transferred to UW- Stevens Point and spoke to Professor Sterling Wall in family and consumer sciences about taking courses toward a CLS career. Wall’s research showed a need for education in this field and adding the CLS certification. “This is a growing field in hospitals,” said Wall. “The data is clear that child life specialists have
Casey Brodhagen ’20 Child Life Intern Children’s Wisconsin
an impact on health outcomes and meeting a family’s needs.” Children interacting with a CLS need less medication and take less time in procedures, which helps reduce costs as well, he said. Creating a well-rounded CLS program included tapping courses from other programs, creating new ones in therapeutic play, grief and loss, and working with Marshfield Children’s Hospital to create practicum experiences for UW-Stevens Point students. Brodhagen’s experiences in practicums at Marshfield and another at a pediatric hospice and palliative care organization in Jacksonville, Fla., helped Wall put the grief course together. This fall, 20 students are working toward the CLS certificate.
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