Giggling Goat offers a wide range of child life services that complement and enhance care provided by pediatricians, primary care providers, mental health professionals, and social workers. The philosophy of child life is synonymous with patient and family-centered care; a Certified Child Life Specialist has the unique role of focusing on the empowerment and support of patients and families as well as advocating for patient-centered practices. "Laughter is the best medicine"
Through patient preparation, teaching, and support, Giggling Goat can help clinicians efficiently accomplish treatment goals while minimizing the patient's emotional and physical distress. The new Policy Statement on Child Life Services was recently released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). An abstract of the statement appears in the May 2014 issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the AAP. The revised policy statement includes strong recommendations for the inclusion of child life services across many different settings, and concludes:
"Child life services should be delivered as part of an integrated patient- and family-centered model of care and included as a quality indicator in the delivery of services for children and families in health care settings"
