Community play specialist

The Community Play specialist is a Registered Health Play Specialist and is part of the Community Children’s nursing service who provides community-based play support to children with complex health needs and is offered to families on the Oxfordshire CCN caseload.

The Community Play Specialist provides holistic support for children, young people and families with acute, chronic illnesses and disability by using play to help children understand what is or has happened to them in relation to their health and medical needs.

They advise and support children, young people and their families how to manage medical procedures and changing play needs within the home and community settings. They will liaise with relevant health care professional such as Nurses, Health Play Specialists and Psychologists to promote continuity of care.

Sessions

Are on Tuesday, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. They offer 30–90-minute sessions with children/young people at either home, community setting or virtually. or Community Play Specialist can assess, advice, review, help and support via email, phone and virtual calls if appropriate.

The Sessions can be either:

Non-directed play sessions

These offer toy and activities allowing the child to control the play session by choosing what and how they want to play.

These types of play allow children to work through their feelings, cope with what’s happening to them and make sense of the things that are about to happen or experienced.

Planned informative play sessions.

Sessions will be lead using planned activities and/or children’s own things as appropriate.

These can be for assessing, preparation, demonstration and as informative sessions for caseload children, their families and school peers

These types of sessions are also used to help prepare (when appropriate) a child for a medical intervention and procedures.

Referrals

Any child/young people who is on CCN caseload can be referred by any of the CCN team or any other healthcare professional by emailing or contacting CCN Single Point of Access.

They will be considered, assessed and scored. Those excepted will be offered up to 6 sessions, assessing after each. More could be offered if needed. Children and young people are able to referred.

Unfortunately, they are unable to offer the siblings of these children any separate support/sessions