Certified Child Life Specialists in Diabetes Care

What is a Child Life Specialist?

The Certified Child Life Specialist at the UMass Memorial Diabetes Center of Excellence supports children and families as needed, beginning at their very first office appointment. She works closely with the pediatric diabetes care team to provide age-appropriate support and interventions, including therapeutic activities in the waiting room and exam room, procedural support, medical and recreational play, developmentally appropriate education, and general family support.   

Assisting families during office visits

• Assessing how the child is doing with fingersticks, injections, and rotating sites. Developing incentive/reward charts with pre-school and younger elementary students as needed to reinforce positive diabetes care. 
  • Developing a Poke Coping Plan 
• Socialization and managing life with diabetes at school, with siblings, and other peer relationships.
• Reducing stress, anxiety, and fear of medical staff, DKA, hypoglycemia, injections, etc.
• Transitioning to continuous glucose monitors and/or insulin pump therapy.

Types of interventions

There are different strategies and interventions for helping infants and toddlers (newborn to two years old), preschoolers (2-5 years old), school age (5-12 years old) and adolescents (ages 12 and up).  Click below to learn more.

Infant       Toddler       Preschooler

School-Age Child       Adolescents

Child Life Specialist: Keri Walko-Henry, ATR, CCLS, LMHC

- Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Ithaca College 
- Master's degree in Art Therapy & Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University  
- Grew up in Buffalo, NY and currently lives in Westborough, MA 
- Keri has two children & two fur babies, Maggie & Bingo
- Enjoys reading, visiting museums, hiking, and going to the ocean 
- Favorite TV Shows: Ted Lasso, Veronica Mars & Bluey

"I love meeting families in the clinic and helping make the space more playful and sensory inclusive. Being able to foster moments of joy and play during a medical visit, and collaborating with other team members in supporting our patients, makes the clinic a wonderful place to be."