A Queensland study has revealed that play can hold the key to post-traumatic stress caused by cancer treatment in young children.

CQUniversity’s Dr Pam McGrath said a study into ‘medical play’ revealed distress and emotional turmoil was associated with invasive medical procedures in young children.

Dr Pam McGrath“Unlike the healthy pre-schoolers who resorted to imaginative constructs to help explain the purpose of medical equipment, the child patients used appropriate terminology and provided scientifically based thinking in their understanding of the diseases and treatments,” Dr MGrath explained.

“The child patients could name the equipment, were aware of its use and were able to mimic the health professionals through direct and realistic uses of the equipment.”

The study also showed that child patients displayed obsessive play and avoidance, while the healthy children had a very short-lived, naïve and joyous curiosity about the medical play.

Dr McGrath said the study highlights the need to respond therapeutically to children’s distress and demonstrates the efficacy of play as a medium for communication about the distress with child patients.