Child Life Program

Olga Lizasoain (PhD in Educational Sciences) works as Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Navarra, where she teaches courses in Special Education and Hospital Pedagogy, and is also coordinator of the practice programme.

For over a decade she has developed family-oriented activities and pedagogic care for children and their families in the Paediatric ward of the Hospital “Clinica Universidad de Navarra”. All this together with the coordination of the practicum, that students in Pedagogy have in this field.

She is also a founding member of HOPE.

Author of various publications related to the Hospital Education, she offers courses and lectures frequently on this area of research, participating in numerous conferences and seminars in different countries of the European Union and Latin America.

She has participated as an expert evaluator of projects for the European Commission and the ANEP (National Agency for the Evaluation of the Government of Spain).

Child Life Programs

This communication focuses on explaining the American Child Life programs, designed to meet the educational and psychosocial needs of paediatric patients families generated as a result of hospitalization and illness. The program addresses the needs of the entire family helping parents to better cope with the situation of childhood disease and even supporting brothers and sisters.

Through this communication is intended to show a specific pattern of action as a mean to inform and promote the work of European hospital teachers with the idea to push them go far. Besides academic activities and the school curriculum is essential to take into account recreational and emotional aspects, focusing on the specific situation of illness and hospitalization of the students, including family support. Hospital teachers must integrate all this in their role, always collaborating with all professionals involved in the care of young patients.

Olga Lizasoain

E-mail: olizas@unav.es

Dpt. of Education/University of Navarra

31080 Pamplona (Spain)