2017 Developing Resiliency through Medical Play

In 2017 Dr Dawn Butterworth AO and Ms Lis Mathiasen received a Play and Resiliency award from World OMEP for their project titled ‘Developing Resiliency through Medical Play’. This project consisted of providing a medical clinic/hospital play area with common items of medical equipment, costumes and props, following a discussion of common medical procedures. The preschool children then engaged in self-directed play, exploring the materials, equipment, roles and procedures, in order to gain mastery over them and reduce anxiety over the unknown, thereby developing resiliency to medical intervention and life’s challenges in general.