Play environments for children with serious health problems (V 1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supportive play environments for children living with life threatening/limiting conditions: an exploratory study in Kuwait and the United Kingdom
IRAS ID
235155
Contact name
Zainab Jasem
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Play is integral to children’s experience of childhood, which in turn is integral to adult lives. The importance and value of play increase proportionately for vulnerable children. Unfortunately, children living with life-threatening/limiting conditions (LTC/LLC) experience play disruption which will have negative consequences on their health and wellbeing. Often there is a level of uncertainty around prognoses, meaning that children may live in to adulthood. Given the importance of play in the development of numerous skills sets throughout the life course, we must not underestimate the impact that the ability to engage in age-appropriate play can have on children living with life-threatening/life-limiting illnesses. One of the possible ways to enhance their play engagement is by having an environment that matches the needs and abilities of the children to support their participation in daily play as part of their everyday routine. The study will focus on the environment of inpatient healthcare facilities (a children’s hospice and a hospital ward) admit children with LTC/LLC between the ages 5-11 years old. Data will be collected in two countries, Kuwait and the UK. Children and caregivers will be included to understand the different factors that influence children’s play while receiving care within these settings. This is through asking the participants to participate in Q sorting activity. They will be given some cards which include statements related to children’s everyday play which need to be ranked by the participant in order of importance to children’s play. This should take less than one hour for caregivers and 30 minutes with children. In addition, observation will be also used to allow a direct and natural observation in context at children’s play on a daily basis while receiving the inpatient healthcare. The researcher will simply follow some children for two hours on two days to explore features of the different environmental factors within the facility.
The research is organised and sponsored by University of Southampton and funded by Kuwait government.REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0127
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion