Play Therapy Toolkit
Aim
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 and the play team at MSF’s Mother and Child Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Together, we developed a Play Therapy Toolkit.
The Play Therapy Toolkit guides users through the basics of play therapy implementations, creating therapeutic spaces, and understanding the theory and science behind play, supply, logistics, infection prevention and control. In addition, the toolkit provides concrete, inspirational examples for making toys and play activities with limited resources.
Status
INITIATION
Completed.
DEVELOPMENT
Completed.
IMPLEMENTATION
Ongoing.
Play therapy activities have been piloted, implemented and are now part of the routine activities at MSF’s Mother and Child Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. The Play Therapy Toolkit offers flexible resources which can be used by other MSF projects in many different ways. Further uptake of the toolkit will be explored and always adjusted to each project’s profile and context. For more information, please contact us.
Stakeholders
MSF Sweden Innovation Unit
MSF Operational Center Brussels (OCB)
The play team at MSF’s Mother and Child Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone
Funding
MSF Sweden Innovation Unit
MSF Operational Center Brussels (OCB)
Contact
Marpe Tanaka, Head of the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit.