This study aims to verify the family's point of view regarding the importance of expressive and recreational activities during hospitalization and recovery from surgery of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP), so as to identify how such activities are beneficial during pre and postoperative period. Interviews were conducted with family members of 138 children with CLP, ages between 7 and 12 years, who were hospitalized at the Hospital of Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies (HRAC/USP). The results show that most of the interviewees preferred that some kind of activity be conducted with the children while waiting for surgery, because they were conducive to the expression of positive feelings during this period. According to those interviewed, recreational and expressive activities during preoperative treatment helped the children feel calmer, and they observed improvement in the children's emotional state. Such activities entertain, redirect attention, pacify the children and contribute to the children's development. They are important for recovery from surgery, and they ease the negative effects of hospitalization. Activities carried out in the Play Library are the favorite of the children and family members alike. From the family members' point of view, recreational and expressive activities are beneficial both to the children and to their parents, as they reduce stress, promote positive feelings for both and enhance adaptation and physical and emotional recovery. They demonstrate the importance of play during hospitalization, and contribute to humanization in care, especially in the case of children with cleft lip and palate, that are submitted to a large number of surgeries and hospitalizations.
Special Education; Inpatient Children; Play; Cleft lip and Palate; Humanization
