title: "Christmas Balls": a Christmas carol by the adolescent cancer patients of the Milan Youth Project.
abstract: The Youth Project is a program developed at the Pediatric Oncology Unit at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan, dedicated to adolescents and young adults with cancer. Among its various goals, the Youth Project organizes structured creative activities with the support of professionals, with the objective of offering young people a new way to express their hopes and fears. This article describes a project centered around music: patients created a Christmas carol with the help of musicians and authors. The adolescents explained with their own words the meaning of the lyrics, telling the story of a Christmas spent in a cancer hospital ward.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Unit of Hereditary Digestive Tract Tumours, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Signoroni
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaggiotti
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veneroni
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magni
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiaravalli
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capelletti
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lapidari
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.|Oncology and Hemato-Oncology Department, University of Milan, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo Alfredo
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massimino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D065026:Hope; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult