News Releases

The Toy Foundation (TTF) has awarded a second grant of $425,000 to the Center for Healthcare Delivery Science (CHDS), a part of Nemours Children’s Health System. TTF, the philanthropic arm of the North American toy industry, is supporting Nemours’ work on a multi-phase research project to explore the impact of trauma-informed patient care and the role of play in helping children and families heal and cope with medical conditions and treatments.

An initial grant of $400,000 from TTF helped fund Phase 1 of the research, which was conducted last year. Phase 1 gathered the perspectives of patients, families, and health care providers at Nemours/Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children (N/AIDHC),Wilmington, DE, and Nemours Children’s Hospital, Orlando, FL, regarding the need for, and best ways to deliver, trauma-informed pediatric patient care - an approach that is responsive to the impact of trauma on children and families in health care settings.

Phase 2, which began in January, will build upon the data already collected and focus on piloting specific ways to use play as an intervention to lessen the traumatic nature of medical events or prevent traumatic stress in children. The idea is to emphasize physical and emotional safety through play to help patients and their families rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.

"As health care providers, we can and must improve our responsiveness to children and their families who are going through or at risk for traumatic experiences," said lead researcher Anne Kazak, PhD, co-director of Nemours CHDS (at right in photo). "With the support of The Toy Foundation, Nemours is excited to work towards shifting the culture in children’s hospitals, enabling more young patients and families to build strength and resilience in the face of adversity."

"The Toy Foundation was built on the notion that play heals, comforts, and supports children who are living through unbelievably stressful circumstances," said Jean Butler, executive director of TTF (at left in photo). "That’s why our groundbreaking partnership with Nemours is so important. Once established, the pilot program will allow us to reach a very vulnerable population of sick children and their families. With Phase 2 of research now underway, we are one step closer to bringing the many benefits of play into these children’s lives."

The effort funded by The Toy Foundation is led by a collaborative team at Nemours – including the Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences, KidsHealth, and the Child Life Program at N/AIDHC.  Dr. Kazak continues to lead the project, in collaboration with Jennifer Sciolla, MS, director of Child Life, N/AIDHC, and Melissa Alderfer, PhD, and Jessica Pierce, PhD, of CHDS.