A therapeutic play program in New Zealand aims to provide an environment that helps children cope with the stress of being in a hospital. A relatively new aspect of child health care in New Zealand, the therapeutic play program is a preventive mental health program that differs from play therapy, which is intervention for children who have an…

Case studies of three children who participated in the play program at Auckland Hospital in New Zealand are presented. About a third of the children admitted to the hospital have access to the play program, but only a few are able to participate in individual sessions with a hospital play specialist. The first case study described in this report…

This guide is intended to assist countries contemplating a comprehensive, action-oriented review of health labor force development to improve their national health systems. Various aspects of the health system infrastructure are examined (major components, organizational structure, coordinating mechanisms, sources of information, and…