title: Telling young children with leukemia their diagnosis: the flower garden as analogy.
abstract: A new approach to communicating the diagnosis of leukemia to the young child was carried out in the Pediatric Hematology Department in Monza over a 2-year period (1989 to 1991). Fifty patients ages 6 to 15 years were entered into the program. A physician communicated the diagnosis of leukemia directly to the child without the presence of the parents. A set of 25 slides was prepared. A garden with flowers and weeds was used as an analogy for leukemia. All 50 of the children expressed gratitude for understanding their disease and the families for being able to talk with their children about the disease without panic and stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Milan, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jankovic
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Loiacono
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Spinetta
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Conter
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations