Play Therapy Toolkit: A guide to implementing play therapy in MSF projects
Children under the age of 15 make up more than 60 per cent of patients in MSF’s projects, and many have experienced conflicts, natural disasters or other traumatic events. Play therapy uses play to help a child, or a group of children, explore and express their emotions and process and cope with difficult experiences.
In 2019, the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit (MSF SIU) organised the Paediatric Hackathon focused on designing and exploring innovative solutions on the topic of paediatric care. Workshop participants identified play therapy as an important but often deprioritised area that deserves more attention, and a mock-up web page was developed with the idea of making all resources needed to set up a play program available in one place.
Fast forward to 2022, MSF SIU was able to turn the original concept into a concrete tool in collaboration with MSF Operational Center Brussels (OCB), MSF’s Play Therapist Katherine Haciömeroğlu and the play team at MSF’s Mother and Child Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Together, we developed a Play Therapy Toolkit.
In this article, Katherine Haciömeroğlu shares insights into her work with play therapy in Kenema and how this work informed the Play Therapy Toolkit.
Turning an innovative concept into a concrete tool
I started working for MSF OCB in June of 2021. I stumbled upon the job posting, it was a non-traditional project recruitment because it was for a new activity – play therapy. As a child life specialist and recreational therapist, professions that focus on understanding how healthcare encounters, trauma, and illness impact the psychological and social aspects of children and adults, I eagerly applied and continued on. When I was contacted back, I learned more about the vision for the role – to implement a pilot program of play therapy in Kenema, Sierra Leone, which would be a model of play therapy activities for other projects. As someone who has worked in the psychosocial support field in four countries, I was eager for the opportunity to once again challenge myself, adapt my practice, teach others, and most importantly create a positive impact on children and families.
Upon arriving to Sierra Leone, I was surprised at how foundational the work would be and struck at how eager the local staff was to ask questions, challenge ideas, and adapt to new information. By sheer coincidence, I came across a video explaining about an MSF web page with play in healthcare resources, a user-friendly, click-and-consume style page for all topics of child-friendly psychosocial healthcare. There was only one problem, no matter how much I looked I could not find this web page. A few email exchanges later and I met the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit (SIU) team, it turns out the web page was a concept, not an actuality. Still, we established the goals of MSF OCB aligned with MSF SIU’s and a partnership was born.
As a sole specialist, shouting in the noisy room of MSF demands, partnering with MSF SIU elevated the play therapy work to a level that we all proudly can display. The support of the innovation team was consistent, focused, and expansive. The innovation team used their project management skills to organize the vision, thoughtfully provide feedback throughout the process, and rise to the requests for strategic designers and illustrators.
As a clinically trained professional, who has made a self-taught career of program development and project management, the support of MSF SIU was invaluable. The outcome of the project exceeded my own expectations. What we were able to create is a legacy we hope impacts the well-being of children and families treated by MSF and beyond.
The Play Therapy Toolkit
The Play Therapy Toolkit is one of the products of the partnership between MSF OCB and MSF SIU. This toolkit explores the basics of play therapy implementations, creating therapeutic spaces, understanding the theory and science behind play, supply and logistics, to making toys and play activities with limited resources. The toolkit is a reference for the field staff for starting play therapy activities. By developing resources that are simple and engaging we hope each pediatric project feels inspired to start somewhere in steps towards making our MSF pediatric project more comfortable and optimal for holistic child health.
The Play Therapy Toolkit is a tangible resource that captures the work in Sierra Leone, but it does not share the whole story. While it was my job, as a speciality expert, to lead this innovation project, it was the work of the local staff that made it possible. The mental health team in Kenema engaged in countless hours of training, constantly incorporated feedback, and actively engaged in making play therapy uniquely Sierra Leone. Their embracement of the theory and practical application to Sierra Leone allowed play therapy to transform into an activity that was accepted into the medical care model. Some of the concepts were unfamiliar and met with some hesitation, but the vulnerability of the team to try and succeed was uplifting.
“As we continue to work towards providing holistic healthcare and the best treatment, play therapy is an obvious investment. An investment in play therapy is an investment in the future of children.”
The addition of play therapy was more than just play. It was transforming spaces from white and sterile to colorful and stimulating. It was understanding the science behind children’s stress and coping abilities. It was returning hope to MSF’s youngest patients. Play therapy got to hold precious moments, first smiles since becoming ill, first steps ever, establishing a will to push forward. As we continue to work towards providing holistic healthcare and the best treatment, play therapy is an obvious investment. An investment in play therapy is an investment in the future of children.
