Child Care in Medical Settings

In recent years, with the remarkable development of neonatal and pediatric medical care, children who would have died in the past are now able to live into adulthood. Even if a child experiences a major disease during the course of his or her development, the probability that he or she will be able to live a normal social life has increased, and diseases such as cancer, which in the past would have meant death, are now being regarded rather as a chronic disease. However, while the hospitalization environment for children in Japan may be a wonderful place for treatment, it is not necessarily a desirable place for children to grow up. Under these circumstances, childcare staff, who specialize in supporting the growth and development of children through care and education are expected to become professionals who support the upbringing of children undergoing medical treatment in Japan.

As such, childcare staff are expected to play an active role in hospitals, but there are still many issues that need to be resolved, such as the ambiguity of their roles in hospitals, the difficulty of improving their expertise, and how to cooperate and collaborate with other occupations. This project aims to address these issues through quantitative and qualitative research.