Santiago Barugel is part of the Recreation Team of the Dr. Carolina Tobar García children’s hospital for mental health in Buenos Aires (Argentina), with more than 15 years of work experience in the public healthcare system in contexts of social vulnerability and mental health with children and teenagers. He has been teaching an advanced seminar on recreation and health at the Institute of Recreation and Free Time (ISTLyR) in Buenos Aires since 2020. He educates specialists in group processes addressing complex issues through play and arts-based practices.
This insightful article describes the creation of a roleplaying workshop for residents of a Children’s Hospital for Mental Health in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The authors demonstrate how “the use of narrative roleplaying games in diverse contexts of care and rehabilitation” can foster ways for children to relate with each other “by sharing the pleasure of playing.”