Play and paediatric health: exploring children's perspectives of play in the context of early health adversity
type: CreativeWork
description: Background Children possess rights to play and to express themselves on matters related to childhood. Though it is recognised that children can be experts of their own lives, the realisation of these rights and children’s agency is contextually dependent, especially in circumstances of health adversity in childhood. Play is recognised as critically important in childhood and associated with children’s health and wellbeing, yet there is a dearth of evidence that includes children’s own perspectives on the role and value of their play in situations of health-related challenges during childhood. This research seeks to address the question: what are children’s experiences of play amidst early health adversity? Children’s perspectives are an integral component of this investigation, focusing on experiences of play in the context of widespread health adversity (the COVID-19 pandemic) and acute, personal health adversity (paediatric hospitalisation). Studies and Methods This thesis consists of three studies to support this exploration. The first study, conducted at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a rapid review on the impact of quarantine or isolation on children’s play. Building upon those findings, the second study presents a remotely conducted, qualitative exploration of children’s perspectives on play during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, moving from broad societal to individual health adversity, the third study combined ethnographic observations and qualitative interviews to investigate paediatric patients’ perspectives on play during inpatient hospitalisation. Results The results of the rapid review revealed a limited amount of research regarding the impact of restrictive circumstances on play, particularly related to health adversity and disease outbreaks. The findings showed that access to play is affected amidst restrictions and indicated that play can be utilised to support children enduring restrictive circumstances, but critically highlighted a lack of…
abstract: Background Children possess rights to play and to express themselves on matters related to childhood. Though it is recognised that children can be experts of their own lives, the realisation of these rights and children’s agency is contextually dependent, especially in circumstances of health adversity in childhood. Play is recognised as critically important in childhood and associated with children’s health and wellbeing, yet there is a dearth of evidence that includes children’s own perspectives on the role and value of their play in situations of health-related challenges during childhood. This research seeks to address the question: what are children’s experiences of play amidst early health adversity? Children’s perspectives are an integral component of this investigation, focusing on experiences of play in the context of widespread health adversity (the COVID-19 pandemic) and acute, personal health adversity (paediatric hospitalisation). Studies and Methods This thesis consists of three studies to support this exploration. The first study, conducted at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a rapid review on the impact of quarantine or isolation on children’s play. Building upon those findings, the second study presents a remotely conducted, qualitative exploration of children’s perspectives on play during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, moving from broad societal to individual health adversity, the third study combined ethnographic observations and qualitative interviews to investigate paediatric patients’ perspectives on play during inpatient hospitalisation. Results The results of the rapid review revealed a limited amount of research regarding the impact of restrictive circumstances on play, particularly related to health adversity and disease outbreaks. The findings showed that access to play is affected amidst restrictions and indicated that play can be utilised to support children enduring restrictive circumstances, but critically highlighted a lack of…
author: Graber, Kelsey
language: eng
keywords: childhood, children's perspectives, COVID-19, health, healthcare, hospital, paediatric, play
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/1d4ba929-56a5-411e-9401-b5aef812db18/download
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
date published: 2023-07-10
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:31Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.104575