Exploring how practitioners make use of play's developmental benefits and therapeutic healing properties to aid the child's health care journey, this reflective book expands and enhances the knowledge base underlying the practice of play in hospitals.

0.Introduction. Part I: Theoretical underpinning. 1.The Development of the Role of Hospital Playworker. 2.Still a Deprived Environment for Children? Revisiting the Case for Hospital Play. 3.It Pays to Play! How I discovered cost effective play and the start of the MRI Awake List Project. 4.Support for Siblings during the Medical Journey. 5.The Elephant in the Room- Mental Health Illness in children and young people; can health play specialists make a difference? 6.The Hospital Playroom: A key part of children and young people's care and recovery. Part II: Personal Reflections on the Role of the Hospital Play Specialist. 7.My Journey. 8.The 'Magic of Play'- Exploring the importance of play and distraction during medical procedures. 9.A Day in the Life of a HPS. 10.Teenagers in hospital- are they the forgotten age? 11.Specialised Play in the Hospital Setting. 12.The Angry Health Play Specialist. Part III: Specific Case Studies. 13.Support for children and young people undergoing radiotherapy treatment. 14.Working with children and young people with autism in the Health Care Setting. 15.Virtual Reality: The new distraction therapy? 16.The role of the health play specialist in the care of children and young people with cancer. 17.Teenagers in Hospital. 18.Ship-shape and Bristol Standard fashion: The 'why', the 'what' and the 'how' of implementing the Bristol Standard within the practice of a hospital play team. 19.Managing a Play Team through the Covid Crisis. Part IV: Reflections from around the world. 20.Oh! The Places You'll Go! - A play specialist's journey. 21.Play in two different ways- A Reflection on Play Practice in the United Arab Emirates. 22."G'Day!" A history of hospital play in an Australian Children's Hospital. 23.Integrating Play in North American Hospitals- Historical and Current Approaches. 24.The Hospital Play Specialist Education Course in Japan: what we have achieved and what we need to overcome. 25.Let's start with play- why play in the emergency department can be our best tool for interventions. Part V: Playing in other ways and other settings. 26.Play in a children's hospice- what's the point? 27.The therapeutic power of playing with chronically abused children. 28.Play and the paradigm shift. 29.Playing Beyond the Boundaries- How the role of the health play specialist can benefit adults in healthcare. 30.Play with purpose: the therapeutic value of play for siblings of pediatrtic patients. 31.Taking hospital play into the home. 32.Concluding Thoughts. x.Appendix- Useful Links