Author: Morgan Livingstone

In the simplest language, it is my job as a certified child life specialist to help kids cope with whatever life throws at them. I always knew I wanted to be a child life specialist and give children a voice where I felt they were powerless. I love being a child life specialist and figuring out the simple and complex ways I can help provide play-based support, preparation, education, and information in creative ways to help kids be and feel successful in their healthcare experience.

In my role as a CCLS, I have learned about children’s incredible ability to survive and thrive while facing illness, trauma, loss and/or end-of-life. The resilience of children of all ages never ceases to amaze me, and I consider myself privileged to have the chance to work and play with them and their families.

I have been actively participating with CRRAB since it began, and I am forever committed to helping CRRAB support children and families facing Retinoblastoma (RB) through the implementation of child life supports, programming and research.

RB is an illness impacting the very young – babies and children at the start of their lives experiencing painful procedures and frequent examinations under anesthesia. RB treatments have the potential to impact a child’s ability to cope and have a healthy development over their lifetime. Child life interventions are essential to mitigating and preventing maladaptive coping and unhealthy development and should be provided upon diagnosis, throughout treatment and follow up care. Despite this knowledge, most child life supports provided to children with RB are being delivered well after diagnosis, after treatment is completed, or in many cases child life is not provided at all.

My hope for the future of child life in healthcare systems and RB care is for child life to be provided as a part of expert clinical care from the start, like chemotherapy, upon diagnosis and throughout treatment and follow up. We provide lifesaving care to rid the body of cancer, and keep that child alive, but do not provide child life interventions to ensure the child themself, the individual inside that body, survives as a whole person at diagnosis, during treatment and beyond. My hope is that child life be provided to prevent problems in children’s coping and therefore, support a healthy development instead of being provided after a problem has arisen. 

CRAAB’s endeavors in child life research, and research in general, can help evaluate and validate child life interventions. Increasing research related to child life can strengthen the profession and provide greater data to help advocate for improved child life interventions for all patients.

CRRAB has been committed to improving access to child life services for children and families facing RB from its inception. Through investment in the years of enriched child life programming at the Retinoblastoma Research Symposia, conducting research, and implementing educational opportunities that spread the word about the importance of RB specific child life, CRRAB is changing the face of RB care for the future.

For more information about the child life profession, here is a link to our governing association: https://www.childlife.org/the-child-life-profession