 zobacz powiększenie | DOI 10.12887/27-2014-4-108-13 Monika NOWAK – Fear in Child and Adolescent Cancer Patients Cena brutto: 7,00 PLN za szt. |
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The article depicts the phenomenon of fear in child and adolescent cancer patients, offering a description of the actual ‘world’ in which they have suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives. Cancerous disease, aggressive treatment and long-term hospitalization induce all kinds of suffering: physical pain, mental anguish and spiritual agony. In such cases suffering is always accompanied by fear, experienced both by the child or adolescent patient and by his or her family. The collected empirical material comprising drawings made by child and adolescent cancer patients, as well as their testimonies and the opinions formulated by their parents, provides an illustration of the results of the research work the author has conducted on the subject. The drawings made by young cancer patients which accompany the article have had a therapeutic significance: the mere expression of fear which they manifest is already a demonstration of the patients’ effort to cope with the anxiety they experience, so to speak, to ‘tame’ its sources, at least to fight the terror caused by the medical procedures. Also the parents and the medical staff of the unit in which the therapy is continued may contribute to taming the fear felt by the suffering child. An interdisciplinary professional team of doctors, nurses, psychologists, educators, physical therapists, and chaplains usually accompanies the young patients in their struggle with the disease, providing the decisive institutional support. Also a wide social support offered to all the family members in such cases is of critical importance, since they need to face numerous new challenges in everyday life and are not infrequently in need of diverse help. Translated by Dorota Chabrajska Keywords: child, cancerous disease, family, fear, anguish, pain, suffering, drawings made by ill children Contact: Uniwersytecki Szpital Dziecięcy w Lublinie, E-mail: monika.nowak@poczta.enterpol.pl Pliki do pobrania: » 108Nowak.pdf | |
