Our Child Life Specialists Are Extra Special
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Child life specialist Devon Geary uses play with a Urology patient before her appointment with her physician.
At CHOP, child life specialists provide individualized care and support to meet the unique needs of children and families as they cope with illness, injury, treatment, hospitalization and the overall healthcare experience. They provide age-appropriate preparation, education, therapeutic and developmental play, and so much more.
Our Division of Urology has two child life specialists — Devon Geary, who practices in the Buerger Center on our Philadelphia Campus, and Grace Woehrle, who practices at our King of Prussia Campus — who focus on diagnoses, treatments and procedures associated with bladder health.
Devon and Grace use play to ensure that children can create positive associations with their environment and the medical staff within it. Play can help familiarize and normalize the hospital experience, which can enhance a patient’s sense of safety while at their appointments.
Devon and Grace also use their background in human development to provide hands-on preparation for stressful procedures. Preparation often involves introducing medical equipment to patients while providing them with education about the “who what, where, how and why” of their procedures.
Grace Woehrle is a child life specialist at our KOP Campus
Our child life specialists are also available to provide support to patients and families during the procedures themselves. They are trained to engage patients in coping techniques such as deep breathing, distraction and non-pharmacological pain management.
Our child life specialists are available to help with the urologic procedures listed below, as well as many other procedures:
- Video urodynamic studies (VUDS)
- Catheterization training
- Lysis of adhesion
- Bladder augmentation
- Catheterizable channels
- Suprapubic tube placement
- Orchiopexy
If your child is scheduled for an upcoming procedure in the Division of Urology, please ask your providers about reaching out to child life to see how they can support you and your child.
Buerger Center: Devon Geary gearyd@chop.edu
King Of Prussia: Grace Woehrle WOEHRLEG@chop.edu
