Play Activity in Hospitalized Children

입원 아동의 자연적 놀이 활동

Purpose: This study was done to analyze children's play during hospitalization. Method: Data were collected from 36 play situations of hospitalized children, ages 2 to 6, hospitalized at 4 general hospitals, one in each city, Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon and Daegu. All observations were made in pediatric units during free-play periods. Each child was observed for 5 minutes at each observation and observed three times at each play session. Results: Of the children, 83.3% played on the bed. Play partners were mainly mothers. While 75.0% of children actively took part in play activity and 70.0% played with joy, 63.9% of play partners were more passive in the play. The most frequent play material was a small toy. The level of play was early stage of social and cognitive play, and dramatic play was observed in a few children over the age of 3 years. The play activities were conversional play, reflections of therapeutic procedures, imagination, and exploratory play. In the conversional play, children converted hospital equipments into play materials. Conclusion: It is recommended that health care team members should pay attention and actively participate in play of hospitalized children in order to help them have some control over the stress of the situation.