Studies have shown that the hospitalization can affect a child development interfering with his/her quality of life. In order to deal with this situation, the act of playing has worked as a coping strategy. With the purpose to assess of the importance children give to play and to characterize possible playful activities in the hospital, 28 children hospitalized with cancer (6-12 years) in Vitória, ES, were interviewed and took part on an instrument specially developed (AEH Evaluation of the Coping Strategies of the Hospitalization - group B: Playing in the hospital), consisting of 20 drawings of toys and games classified in games of Exercises, Symbolic Game, Game of Connection, Game of Rules and a variety of Activities. 78,6% of the children said that they would like playing in the hospital, which is justified mainly by its ludic function, in the company of other hospitalzed children. There were no significant differences in the choices among the categories of games. The instrument showed that playing can be an appropriated resource to jelp with the adjustment of the hospitalized child, making the treatment a personalized intervention.
Playing in the hospital; child hospitalization; child cancer