Child Life Therapy

Visiting a hospital at any age can be overwhelming, but for a child, the experience can be particularly daunting.

The unfamiliar rooms, faces and obtrusive medical equipment, coupled with feelings of unease and the unknown associated with clinical procedures, can cause anxiety which reverberates through childhood, teenage years and, for some, even into adulthood.

But what if there were a way to empower children to feel calm and in control, and to prevent any worries from lingering long-term? This is where Child Life Therapists can be transformative and change the course of care for a child for a lifetime.

The Foundation was proud to facilitate Queensland’s first Child Life Therapist in a public hospital emergency department in 2022, thanks to our alliance partnership with Hospitals United for Sick Kids and one of its major partners, Coles.

The role supported around 2,000 children and families at The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH) in its first year alone, demonstrating just how essential Child Life Therapy is to paediatric care. The following year, the role was made permanent within TPCH’s Children’s Services.

In 2025, thanks to the generosity of the Foundation’s remarkable corporate and community supporters, including Chain Reaction Challenge Foundation and Hospitals United for Sick Kids, the program expanded further, growing from one to two roles at TPCH and adding the first Child Life Therapist at Caboolture Hospital.

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What is a Child Life Therapist and how do they help?

Child Life Therapists are allied health professionals who are specially trained to help children manage fear, pain, uncertainty, and misconception during medical procedures through therapeutic play, preparation, sensory regulation, and coping techniques.

These interventions are evidence-based and age-appropriate, ensuring each child has an experience tailored to their situation and unique needs.

The Prince Charles Hospital’s first Child Life Therapist, Meenu, explains that she collaborates with families to create coping strategies that help children and their carers feel a sense of control in challenging situations, empowering them.

“I use play as a tool to connect with children effectively. Play within the hospital environment fosters a feeling of well-being and safety. The ‘felt safety’ helps me get through to them (the children) even when they’re overly anxious,” says Meenu.

“My approach is rooted in family-centred trauma-informed care principles, recognising that supporting parents is often as vital as preparing the children for procedures.”

Decreasing anxiety for children not only helps parents who may be struggling to cope with seeing their child in pain or sick, but it also supports the entire care ecosystem.

“We help them understand their experience through play, their most natural way of learning, ensuring a positive hospital stay that shapes their future relationship with healthcare. No child is the same, and each day is different, combining creativity, fun, and medicine in meaningful ways,” says Lisa, The Prince Charles Hospital’s second Child Life Therapist.

Meenu, the very first Child Life Therapist at TPCH, whose position was funded through Hospitals United for Sick Kids and its major partner Coles, sees the impact every day.

“A massive thanks to Meenu. What a wonderful service to have in your kids’ department. My son came in with a wound to his foot. My son has been diagnosed with anxiety and has recently started having more panic attacks. With this trauma, knowing it would require sutures and knowing this involved needles, I started preparing him with my knowledge to help him process. Then, on meeting Meenu, I was able to relax as a parent. Not only did she make my son feel comfortable and relaxed, but it assisted me too. She was so kind and a valuable person to have in a children’s emergency department. I just wanted to say Thank you!!!” Parent of the patient.

During the program’s first year at TPCH, more than 60% of children supported by Child Life Therapy were aged six or under.

“Of the total compliments received for the Children’s Emergency Department in 2022, 21.5% were about the CLT service (provided by a single therapist). This was only six months into the pilot project’s launch,” says Amber Jones, Director of Occupational Therapy at The Prince Charles Hospital.

Expanding the Child Life Therapy Service

This feedback contributed to research demonstrating the benefits of Child Life Therapy and the need to expand to help more children, their families, and staff.

“We were proud to fund the very first Child Life Therapist at The Prince Charles Hospital in 2022, and we’re equally proud to add another one at TPCH and also extend support of that role into Caboolture Hospital. The Foundation has committed $900,000 across multiyear funding for the Child Life Therapist roles across the hospitals we are proud to support,” says Chief Executive Officer of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, Steve Francia.

Expanding Child Life Therapy into Caboolture Hospital

Caboolture Hospital’s inaugural Child Life Therapist, Lucy, started in July 2025. Her calm presence and practical guidance have had a widespread, deeply felt impact across the hospital’s paediatric and emergency teams, as well as local families.

Nurses, doctors and allied health teams now regularly collaborate with her to prepare children, ease distress, and improve cooperation during procedures.

“When a child is anxious, the whole family feels it. My role is to support both parents and children – to explain what’s happening, help them feel calmer and give them strategies that make the experience less overwhelming,” says Lucy.

“Sometimes it’s as simple as using a doll to show what will happen or slowing down and giving a child time to breathe. Those small moments make a huge difference.” 

Support meaningful impacts like Child Life Therapy

As The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation celebrates 40 years of impact, the Child Life Therapy program stands as a powerful example of what philanthropy makes possible.

From Caboolture to Chermside, Child Life Therapists are helping children feel brave, parents feel supported and clinicians feel empowered to provide the best care possible.

These moments-a child’s steady breath, a parent’s relieved smile, a successful procedure without sedation – are not small. They are the heart of compassionate healthcare.

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