A Review of Play Therapy Interventions for Chronic Illness

The diagnosis of a childhood chronic illness affects both the child and his or her family, thus interventions should target the diagnosed child and the family system. Utilizing play therapy (PT) to treat childhood chronic illness has the potential to foster children’s development of a positive self-image, self-control, and promote a healthy parent-child relationship as the foundation for current and future health behaviors. Currently, limited research exists assessing different PT modalities in the treatment of childhood chronic illness. Furthermore, additional research is needed to evaluate the use of PT with common health diagnoses in childhood, such as overweight and obesity. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the empirical PT research in the treatment of childhood chronic illness (e.g., diabetes), and to provide future intervention recommendations for the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. Six articles published from 2002 to 2014 were included in the final review based on the listed inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results were organized into 3 themes, family system enhancement, child psychological outcomes, and child and parent perceived health behavior change. Future application of PT interventions to the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity are discussed herein.