The Interface Between Children and Families with the Health Care System: Therapeutic Play In Out-Patient Settings

Abstract

The primary focus of this research was to assess parent'' satisfaction with their child's visit to their pediatrician in an out-patient office setting. Specifically, the experimental condition measured parental satisfaction when the presence of a Child Life Specialist was available in the waiting area of an out-patient setting and compared it to a control condition when a Child Life Specialist was not present. A questionnaire, the Parental Satisfaction Survey (PSS), measured parental satisfaction with the child's health care visit. It was anticipated that higher levels of overall satisfaction would be found for parents whose child experienced the activities of a Child Life Specialist in the waiting area than for those who did not. Additionally, for those parents whose child was exposed to child life services, it was expected that high levels of parental satisfaction would be found with these child life services alone. Assessing the satisfaction of consumers toward a psychosocial component, such as child life services, and the effects this component may have on overall satisfaction levels with an out-patient health care visit may provide important support for the establishment of psychosocial components in more out-patient health care settings.