Hospitalized Child and Play: Toys Made of Medical Materials

Children whose immune systems are not yet fully mature may encounter many acute or chronic diseases throughout their development and therefore may need to be hospitalized. Staying in an unknown environment such as a hospital causes children to experience feelings such as anxiety and fear.

Hospitalization, which is a stressful process for both the child and his family, causes financial and social changes for the child and his family. Being unfamiliar with the disease, the hospital environment, the procedures to be performed, and the feeling of not having control over the procedures also create stress on the child and the family. In addition to the stress experienced, the effects of their treatments on the central nervous system and the biological stress they bring negatively affect the development of hospitalized children. Hospitalized children experience different emotions due to the unknown environment, unfamiliar people in this environment, unknown tools and equipment, and frightening sounds and smells. For children, being sick and being hospitalized can easily lead to a crisis.

It is an indisputable fact that regardless of the age of the child, being separated from his family and hospitalized creates great stress for him. Effectively managing the stress of hospitalized children will shorten the hospitalization process by facilitating the child's adaptation to the disease and the hospital. When it comes to children, the first thing that comes to mind is play. For this reason, it is thought that the child will best cope with stress through play. It seems that play is an effective tool in helping hospitalized children cope with stress. When the literature was examined, studies were found examining the effects of games such as tablet games, outdoor games, and digital games on hospitalized children. In a study, the effect of playing with toys made with medical materials on the pain of children with cancer was evaluated. However, no study has been found examining the effect of playing with toys made using medical materials on the anxiety of hospitalized children. This study was planned as a randomized controlled study to examine the effect of playing with toys made of medical materials on the anxiety of hospitalized children.