ABSTRACT
This chapter explains about enabling health-givers to acknowledge their own need to play and to find ways of incorporating play in their continuing professional development as a means of reducing stress and work-related burn-out. Play and playful activities can be used to enrich the continuing professional development of those working in healthcare with consequent positive implications for the patient experience. Recognizing play and playful activities as both a human need and a natural tendency offers a new perspective on the challenges inherent in work-related learning. The chapter includes case studies, from around the world, of innovative play-based learning and provides suggestions for a tool-kit for optimizing learning through play. It discusses some of the play-based strategies that can help caregivers deliver a high quality of care, either individually or as part of a team. The chapter also explores other play-based activities that healthcare workers can employ when undertaking continuing learning.
