O uso do brinquedo terapêutico na assistência à criança hospitalizada: uma revisão de escopo

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric hospitalization is an event that causes enormous disruption to children and their families. The abrupt change in routine means diving into a new universe, full of needles, syringes and hospital medical equipment, which creates great fear in pediatric patients. Hospitalized children may have difficulties and react negatively to hospitalization and change, becoming aggressive. Playing becomes fundamental, acting as a non-verbal communication, capable of instigating the child and their family members to give new meaning to suffering. Therapeutic Toy (TP) consists of dolls, physical or virtual, with which the child comes into contact when admitted to the hospital. OBJECTIVE: To map the scientific literature on the use of play and the use of therapeutic toys in pediatric interactions. METHODOLOGY: This is a “scoping review”, developed according to the Joanna Briggs Institute for Scoping Reviews protocol. The research question was: “What scientific evidence is available about playing and the use of TP in the care of hospitalized children? The search covered the databases and the eligibility criteria were: Portuguese, English and Spanish, from 2018 to 2024. RESULTS: 1,730 studies were initially identified, and after applying the eligibility criteria, 20 articles were included in this study . BT vary significantly in their nature and application, including the use of dolls to simulate the procedure performed, creation of stories, courses, virtual games, virtual reality simulators, videos, digital applications, comic books, coloring pages , dramatization with puppets, use of music therapy, art therapy and pets. The results of the studies indicate an improvement in the patient's journey, increased knowledge about diagnosis and procedures, decreased anxiety and fear and improved parental satisfaction when observing better comfort for their children in difficult times such as chemotherapy. Difficulties related to the use of BT include professionals' incipient knowledge about the importance of using BT in clinical practice, little investment by health services in this practice, and difficulty in managing time for the use of BT. There is no specific professional to apply BT sessions; however, nursing professionals were those who applied the technique the most, due to their greater proximity to the child. CONCLUSION: The study identified interventions and types of BT used worldwide to improve the quality of life of hospitalized children, reducing fear, anxiety and postoperative pain in caregivers and pediatric patients. Furthermore, it promotes knowledge about the disease and gives new meaning to the fear of hospitalization through play. The use of BT is still under development in the health sector, requiring further studies to implement and disseminate this clinical practice in pediatric institutions.