Bringing joy to young sufferers

Sutradhar, a non-profit educational resource centre, will hold its annual seminar, this time called, ‘Play in Hospitals’,  on May 28 at 4 pm at Ashirwad, St Mark’s Road. “We, at Sutradhar, have had annual programmes since 1996 to bring people involved with kids, like doctors, parents, NGOs and people from the government, together. A range of issues on early childhood are discussed, this time the topic being play therapy and therapeutic clowning,” says Revathi Suresh, the public relations official for the organisation. “Early childhood is a neglected period,” she adds.  Sutradhar lays stress on the importance of play in education and believes that a variety of play materials allows children to learn concepts and make connections which are the foundations of early learning.

It is often a great challenge to take play to children in institutional settings like hospitals. The forum seeks to help chronically ill children who spend long periods away from home, under intense medical care. Though play therapy is relatively new in India, there are now organisations that are trying to make a difference to affected children and families by exploring ways to help them cope with the stress brought on by the hospital environment through focus on their emotional health and well-being. In this open forum, individuals from two such organisations will be sharing their experiences.

Doctor Clown India is India’s first therapeutic clowning group. It was brought into India from France by Severine Blanchet. These clowns are very different from the ones at the circus. “Therapeutic Clowning is where they make children comfortable in hospitals and sustain a cheerful environment,” says Suresh. “Therapeutic Clowning aims to offer unconditional love through non-violence or ‘ahimsa’ clowning,” says Nazu Tonze, aka Dr Gladys, the first professional female therapeutic clown in India, who will be speaking at the forum. “We make kids laugh so they don’t feel afraid. Even though many people call me a clown, I love my job. It is not as easy as it seems to ‘clown about’.”

Play therapy is generally employed with children between the ages of three and 11 providing a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process. “Play Therapy is the use of a theoretical model of role-play to help the child adjust to a stressful situation. In hospitals, it is used for chronically ill children. We have evolved our own bedside model, where we go to the kids instead of them coming to us.”

Play Therapy was started in Pune by the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Centre. It is now being used in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore through the Priyanka Foundation. “We plan to share our experiences of two and a half years in Play Therapy and train people who are interested,” says Meera Oke, who is also scheduled to speak at the forum.

“The doctors in Manipal took a while to get used to the idea of Play Therapy, but now they fully support the idea and say it is an important part of care, especially in chronic cases like cancer. It makes a child feel ‘at home’, even in a hospital,” says Oke, adding, “We familiarise kids through medical play where we use small play models of the hospital equipment so the child knows what will happen to him. There is also a reversal of roles, where the child pretends to ‘operate’ on a doll.”

Sanjokta Malgonda, who works directly with the children at Manipal, says, “At first, there was no response from the kids, but soon, they understood the concept. Thanks to Play Therapy, we were able to establish a rapport with the children and they seemed to enjoy themselves.”

The mother of a five-year-old patient in Manipal Hospital says, “I think Play Therapy is a good thing. My son was able to enjoy it despite the dreary surroundings. Every day, he responded joyfully when a new toy was given to him. I recommend Play Therapy for all kids in hospitals. It helps them keep their minds off the pain.”

Usha Shinde, a counsellor, holds the view that Play Therapy forms an essential part of a child’s treatment, especially if he/she has been hospitalised for a long period of time. “Forty minutes of play per day have proven to have a therapeutic effect on the child,”
she adds.