An exploratory study of the potential roles of child and youth care work in a hospital context

Abstract

INTRODUCTION A hospital can be regarded as a place of healing, that strives to offer holistic care to patients and the requisite support to families. Children who are faced with hospitalization encounter immense distress due to being separated from their parents and due to painful medical procedures. Equally important is the need to support parents who face the trauma of their child’s illness or injuries. It is within this context that the need for helping professionals particularly child and youth care workers are crucial to supporting both children and their families. This study explored how hospitalization affected children and family members but more importantly what support children and family members needed during this time. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study was to explore then the challenges that children and their families face, when children are hospitalized as well as the psychosocial support that is needed during this time. The study also looked to explore the potential role of child and youth care workers in terms of providing developmental and therapeutic programmes in a hospital context and how child and youth care workers can work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team in a hospital context. METHODOLOGY The study used a qualitative research approach. This was to secure rich and in-depth information with regards to the challenges children and their families faced during hospitalization and what support and other holistic therapeutic interventions could be used to support their recovery. It also helped the researcher to understand what therapeutic activities and interventions could be levelled, by social service professionals, in a hospital setting. The study was conducted at RK Khan Hospital which is a public hospital. Two samples were used, which included eleven health care professionals from RK Khan Hospital and ten senior child and youth care workers from the National Association of Child Care Workers. Participants were selected using non-probability purposive sampling techniques. The data collection method used for both samples were semi-structured interviews. The interviews for health care professionals took place at RK Khan Hospital and the interviews with the senior child care workers were conducted at NACCW. Both settings were in the Ethekwini region. Data was then analysed using the process of thematic analysis. Themes and subthemes were then generated and the data discussed accordingly. FINDINGS From the data, three main themes emerged and fourteen subthemes. The main themes were inclusive of the hospitalization experience, nature of psychosocial support of children in hospital and their families and lastly, the roles of social service professionals in a hospital context. The study found that children and their families experience many challenges whilst they are hospitalized which included namely parent-child separation anxiety, fear of medical staff, difficulty understanding medical jargon, inadequate infrastructure and inadequate support services. These challenges created fear and anxiety in children during their stay at the hospital. Medical staff were found to try their best to minimize such effects but this was not adequate in terms of providing psycho-social care to children and their families. Data also reflected that children receive some psychosocial support in the hospital and that families are offered counselling although this is minimal and very superficially done. The need for social service professionals in the hospital context is beneficial. The study found the need for social service professionals to be present in the hospital environment so that therapeutic interventions could be undertaken with children and their families as well as such as group therapy, multidisciplinary teamwork, liaison with community stakeholders and spiritual support. CONCLUSION The need for social service professionals particularly child and youth care workers and social workers are crucial to provide a holistic health service within the hospital context.