Art Therapy Interventions With Caregivers Supporting Pediatric Patients Who Are Undergoing Bone Marrow Transplantation for Cancer
Art Therapy Interventions With Caregivers Supporting Pediatric Patients Who Are Undergoing Bone Marrow Transplantation for Cancer
RATIONALE: Art therapy may help relieve emotional distress in caregivers of young patients undergoing bone marrow transplant for cancer.
PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying art therapy for caregivers of young patients undergoing bone marrow transplant for cancer.
OBJECTIVES:
OUTLINE: Caregivers undergo art therapy over 60 minutes once a week for 6 weeks. Each session comprises developing trust through the expression of support, affirmation, and collaboration; creating intimacy through attunement; exploring affective states; integrative processing through the creation of an autobiographical narrative; and identifying opportunities for continued exploration and resources that support the client, should that exploration become necessary.
Caregivers also complete a Meaning of Life Questionnaire and a Family Quality of Life Scale at baseline and at the end of week 6.
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
Family caregiver identified by the patient's physician as most involved in the patient care including, but not limited to, the following:
One caregiver per pediatric patient
No caregivers who are part of an institutional system and are temporarily fulfilling the custodial role of the patient (i.e., foster parents)
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: