Dr. Joan Turner, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University today received the 2018 Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP).
The Award was presented at the opening of this year’s ACLP Child Life Annual Conference in Washington, DC. It is the association’s highest honour and recognizes exceptional contributions to the field of child life. The ACLP represents more than 5,000 professionals at more than 600 organizations worldwide whose work it is to help children, youth and families cope with the stress and uncertainty of illness, injury and treatment.
The Association’s President, Eileen Clark, wrote: “Joan is a child life professional of the highest calibre, who is universally admired and respected by her colleagues. She was selected from a group of highly-qualified candidates as the member most deserving of this year’s award.”
Her contributions to the profession have been many, among them a strong advocacy for the field for its positive impacts on children and families affected by illness and hospitalization; a broad knowledge in child development, play and the role of relationships in positive mental health development; and an outstanding commitment to research in child life.
Dr. Turner is co-author of The Pips of Child Life: Early Play Programs in Hospital, a book about the history of psychosocial care of children and families in hospitals and a leading child life text. She has also published extensively, including articles on demonstrations of health literacy by preschoolers through play, parents’ experiences of caring for children with minor illness, attachment theory in child life programming and more.
Huge congratulations, Dr. Turner, on this much deserved recognition!
