Relevant publications…

“It was nearly four o’clock. I entered the oncology ward, notebook in hand and ready to take some notes when a smiling three-year old boy pointed at me and screamed: “I’m coming to the disco! See you there!” After five weeks of attending this popular event, most patients recognised me. Children, parents and staff knew that my role in the hospital was to ‘write stories’ so adults could learn how children play, dance and have fun while hospitalised.“

Groovy Tuesdays; Exploring how music – preferably accompanied by a disco ball! – can give a vital injection of playfulness to the hospital environment at Milestones- The magazine of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) (March 2025).

United Kingdom

Available in English

“This scoping review explores the connection between play and children’s health in healthcare contexts, synthesising 127 studies across 29 countries. Commissioned by the Starlight Children’s Foundation (Starlight) and conducted by the Centre for Research in Play in Education, Development, and Learning (PEDAL) at the University of Cambridge, the review highlights the role of play in promoting children’s holistic health and wellbeing in healthcare environments”.

PLAYING WITH CHILDREN’S HEALTH? A scoping review of recent literature on play and children’s health by Kelsey Graber, Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola, Kateryna Tyzhuk and Paul Ramchandani (March 2025).

United Kingdom

Available in English

“In May-June 2024, the Italian associations of volunteers against cancer (Associazione Nazionale Volontari Lotta contro i Tumori, ANVOLT) promoted a five lesson-course entitled “Play and Therapy: Supporting Oncological Children through the Play-Based Approaches” […] Five lessons guided professionals in an in-depth reflection over the humanization of care for children affected by cancer. In the present paper, the main insights emerging from the course are synthetized, discussed and shared with the scientific community”.

Fostering the psychological wellbeing of children diagnosed with cancer: multidisciplinary insights in pediatric oncology by Giulia Perasso, Marco Romeo, Paola Coccia, Giulia Paleo and Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola (January 2025).

Genoa, Italy.

Available in English

‘While play is a well-considered phenomenon in childhood, it is largely ignored in old age. However, ethnographic case studies reveal that play is present as both a mode of experience and an activity across the life course. This chapter asks what is to be gained analytically by situating play as a topic of inquiry for life course studies…”

Play Across the Life Course: An Anthropology of Play in Childhood and Old Age by Carrie Ryan and Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola (January 2025).

Chapter in- Linking Ages: A Dialogue between Childhood and Ageing Research. A book edited by Anna Wanka, Tabea Freutel-Funke, Sabine Andresen and Frank Oswald.

London, United Kingdom.

Available in English

“Despite growing interest in hospital play by multidisciplinary experts, there is a relative lack of scientific evidence and observational studies to capture children’s perspectives. This doctoral research aimed to deepen understanding of children’s hospital experiences and their interactions with Health Play Specialists (HPS), to derive insights into healthcare professionals’ training and education.”

‘Guess Who?® – Hospital Edition: An ethnography of how children differentiate between the identities and purposes of the staff who care for them by Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola and Paul Ramchandani.

Abstract #14 in-Abstracts for posters and short poster pitches submitted to the international symposium: “PREPARE” (Play, Rights, and Experiences in Pediatric cARE). November 2024.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Available in English

‘Play in Hospital Week aims to raise awareness of the benefits of play in hospitals across the UK. Play Teams, mainly composed of Health Play Specialists and Play Workers, along with multiple charities, and those allies involved in the provision of play and playfulness within children’s hospitals, come together to deliver a magical week for children in hospitals’

Play in Hospital Week 2023 (UK).

News for PEDAL Hub (Play in Education Development and Learning). University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Available in English and Spanish.

‘My main goal was to continue to improve the lives of sick children by conducting research and being able to help more than one child at a time. My objective is to create change and leave the world, specifically the world of paediatric medicine, a little better than I found it.’

Exploring play in hospitals in Spain, Australia and England.

Play Piece for PEDAL Hub (Play in Education Development and Learning), University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Available in English and Spanish.

‘The following story illustrates the dangers of ignoring the fact that children are human beings with fundamental rights, deserving of respect’ (Brown and Wragg, 2023, p.2).

“… the reason I am a ‘Play and Health’ researcher and advocate” (Perez-Duarte Mendiola, p.4)

Nicky Everett, Cath Hubbuck & Fraser Brown (2023) Play in Hospitals: Real Life Perspectives (1st Edition) Routledge: London.

Exploring how practitioners make use of play’s developmental benefits and therapeutic healing properties to aid the child’s healthcare journey, this reflective book expands and enhances the knowledge base underlying the practice of play in hospital.

‘They looked at my ears, they looked at my throat, they looked at my tummy, but they didn’t look at me’ (Hubbuck, 2009, p. 158; Jolly, 1981).

The Handbook of Research on Play Specialism Strategies to Prevent Pediatric Hospitalization Trauma spreads knowledge about the potential of playing to protect and increase children’s health during hospitalization. The book focuses on play strategies counteracting pediatric patients’ trauma, anxiety, depression, and other biopsychosocial negative consequences. It discusses the rights of hospitalized children and the strengths of the play specialism approach.

“Foreword by Paulina Pérez-Duarte”

Giulia Perasso & Yagmur Ozturk (2022) Handbook of Research on Play Specialism Strategies to Prevent Pediatric Hospitalization Trauma. IGI Global

The research aim of this study was to identify strategies and methods employed by Health Play Specialists to effectively communicate with children. This research highlights the importance of introducing a ‘pro-play’ mindset to healthcare-workers, in order to facilitate children’s basic human-rights in hospital. It seeks to advocate for the potential of ‘Play’ and the value of HPS within paediatric-healthcare-settings, as well as the need for further recognition and multidisciplinary research in this area.

How to communicate with children, according to Health Play Specialists in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study.

Journal of Child Health Care (2022)

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While posing myself the question: ‘Should we inform terminally-ill children they are dying?’ I found myself on an eye-opening path that redirected me to: ‘What do terminally-ill children have to say about their own death?’

‘Prognosis of Death in Paediatric Patients: Should We Inform Terminally-ill Children They are Dying?

Anthropolitan Magazine, pages 16-17. Anthropology Department at UCL. London, UK.

Mientras me planteé la pregunta: ‘¿Deberíamos informar a los niños en estado terminal que están muriendo?’ Me encontré en un camino revelador que me dirigió hacia: ‘¿Qué tienen que decir los niños en estado terminal sobre su propia muerte?’

Pronóstico de muerte en pacientes pediátricos: ¿Deberíamos informar a los niños en estado terminal que están muriendo?

Anthropolitan Blog, Anthropology Department at UCL. London, UK.

DR KELEKIAN: This treatment is the strongest thing we have to offer you. And, as research, it will make a significant contribution to our knowledge.

VIVIAN: Knowledge, yes.

– W;t A Play by Margaret Edson –

“Remodelling a medical brain: Thinking Anthropologically”

Medical Anthropology at UCL (Blog). London, U.K.

‘Heterogeneous government responses have been reported in reaction to COVID-19. The aim of this study is to generate an exploratory review of healthcare policies published during COVID-19 by health-care institutions in Mexico’.

“Healthcare guidelines and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico: a case of health inequalities”

Health Policy OPEN.