Kythe, Inc. is one of the organizations helping cancer-affected children in improving their way of life. It is a non-stock, non-profit organization that implements the Child Life Program in nine hospitals in the Philippines. The program, now existing for 13 years, addresses the psychosocial needs of pediatric cancer patients in health care setting.
In this program, chronically-ill children are given opportunities to lead normal lives. Child Life Specialists provide therapeutic play activities so the patients could live a normal childhood.
According to Fatima Garcia, executive director of Kythe, Inc., "Most children with cancer are not bothered with having the illness. They are more concerned with the consequences of the disease – less time with friends and at school, going to hospitals for less-friendly medications and the fear of being deprived of play."
Garcia explains that this is one of the main reasons for the foundation of the Child Life Program. "In the program, our Child Life Specialists take children’s play seriously," she adds.
Cancer patients, especially children, express their feelings of frustration, anger, fear about their conditions best through play. Through self-play or active interaction, medical professionals may also assess the psychological, more than the physiological needs of the patients whether or not they are confined in the hospital.
According to Dr. Divina Esteban, vice president of the Philippine Society of Oncologists, "If only medical professionals and their support staff take time to explain to the pediatric patients what he or she is sick of and prepare them for medical procedures, then these painful experiences will be minimized. It is only through the child’s preparation that a patient is educated about cancer."
It is important for the child to know what his or her illness and what procedures will be done to him or her. Oftentimes, children carry distress into their adult lives due to lack of proper background on their illness.
In the Child Life Program, well-trained specialists use a lot of medical play to familiarize the patient with the medical equipment like a syringe, stethoscope and even a mini CT scan machine. Garcia remarks that it is Kythe’s dream that health institutions catering to pediatric cancer patients implement systems similar to the Child Life Program that has the child’s best interest in mind.
"The presence of a sustainable child health support program, together with capable personnel and corresponding modules for parents of children with cancer will ensure the total approach in treating pediatric cancer," she concludes.
To know more about current C-Network efforts, visit the C-Network website at www.cnetwork.org.ph.
