Abstract
Child Life Specialists are health care professionals specially trained to provide support for pediatric patients and their families through the use of therapeutic play, diagnostic education, and age-appropriate procedural and surgical preparation. They extensively study child and adolescent development, in particular how to effectively communicate and ensure language used with patients is age and developmentally appropriate, soft, and conveys the right messages at the right time. With the advent and rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its ability to transform concepts and language, it is important for health care providers to identify and understand the subtle and not so subtle differences in how AI would “speak” with patients and when AI may be used as a supplemental means of communication. A variety of AI sources were identified. A standard scenario was entered along with instructions for the AI platform to develop a script, depending on “who” the script was written for, including a patient’s diagnosis. A comparison of the AI generated scripts were made, and a separate comparison of the AI scripts with child life specialist scripts were made. While AI, across several platforms, generated useful scripts, they all missed one important component, the human factor and the ability of child life specialists to consider external factors when communicating with their patients. It is important to remember that communication is an art form, and while AI is honing its language every minute, child life specialists should continue to rely on their own communication skills when working with their patients.
Presenters
Holly KihmProfessor, Health and Human Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Louisiana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Emotional vs Artificial Intelligence: A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare?
KEYWORDS
Therapeutic Communication, Child Life Specialist, Pediatric, Psychosocial Needs, Therapeutic Pay
