Understanding the Perceptions, Behavior, and Attitudes Towards Hospital Play Services

Aim This proposed study aims to investigate the perceptions, behavior, and attitudes of healthcare professionals, previously hospitalized children, and parents of these children toward hospital play services in the Hong Kong healthcare system. In addition, in-depth interviews will be conducted with selected participants to investigate their views on the role of hospital play specialists , as well as the sustainability and development of hospital play specialists services in Hong Kong hospitals Study Design A mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach will be used to collect data. The study will be divided into two phases. In Phase I, a cross-sectional study, using a structured questionnaire, will be conducted on healthcare professionals in the pediatric units of six acute care public hospitals from different regions of Hong Kong. In Phase II, in-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted with randomly selected healthcare professionals who have participated in the Phase I study. In addition, the investigators will collect feedback and comments from previously hospitalized children and their parents.