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Using creative arts to help children cope with altered body image
Insights
Hospitalization impacts children's body image. Expressive therapeutic activities, individually or in groups, can help pediatric patients cope with these changes and address body image concerns effectively.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Pediatric Psychology
- Art Therapy
Background:
- Hospitalization and illness can significantly affect a child's developing body image.
- Addressing these psychosocial challenges is crucial for comprehensive pediatric patient care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the impact of hospitalization on pediatric body image.
- To highlight the use of expressive activities as therapeutic interventions for body image issues in hospitalized children.
Main Methods:
- Review of developmental considerations for hospitalized children.
- Categorization of expressive activities for therapeutic use.
- Presentation of case studies illustrating therapeutic interventions.
Main Results:
- Expressive activities can be tailored for individual and group interventions.
- These activities provide a medium for children to process and express feelings related to body image changes.
- Case studies demonstrate the successful application of expressive arts in addressing body image concerns.
Conclusions:
- Expressive activities are valuable tools in managing body image issues for hospitalized children.
- Integrating these therapies supports the psychosocial well-being of pediatric patients.
- Further research into specific art modalities and their efficacy is warranted.
Abstract:
A specific aspect of development to be considered when planning expressive activities for hospitalized children is the potential and actual effects of hospitalization and illness on their developing body image. Therapeutic activities which address this stressful issue can be an integral part of the care of pediatric patients. This manuscript highlights several categories of expressive activities to help illustrate the way in which these activities can be used individually and with groups of children for therapeutic intervention when dealing with body image issues. Case studies are presented.