Tell me about it: drawing as a communication tool for children with cancer.
As health-related research on children shifts from seeking information about children to seeking information directly from them, researchers recognize the need for developmentally appropriate methods such as drawing to help children communicate their experiences. This international study sought to (a) explore and compare the nature of stressors of everyday life and disease that children with cancer in the United Kingdom and the United States experience, (b) explore and compare the coping measures they use to manage these stressors, and (c) examine the use of drawing to enhance communication. Participants included 22 children ages 7 to 18 years, 13 boys and 9 girls receiving treatment for cancer in the United Kingdom and the United States. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used within a grounded theory approach and included drawing to accompany the traditional grounded theory methods of interview and observation. Findings indicate that children, regardless of their ethnicity and other cultural components, respond to the childhood cancer experience in a similar manner. The use of drawing enhanced communication through direct visual expression and/or through verbal expression via the "campfire effect."
Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA. rollinsj@msn.com
Judy A
JA
Rollins
D000293:Adolescent; D001155:Art Therapy; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000451:nursing*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States