Location: Royal Children's Hospital and Monash Children's Hospital
Funding Requirement: $200,000 per annum
Funding Period: (Year): Annual ongoing
Aim of Project:
Art & Music Therapy (AMT) play an important role in creating a normal environment for children and adolescents with cancer and reducing the impact of the disease and treatment of both them and their families.
Description of service:
A best practice service model for art and music therapy services across the RCH, MCH and Peter Mac was developed by the Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS) in 2007. The service model articulates the vision for the future being that all children and adolescents and their families will have access to developmentally appropriate experiences based on assessed need that will:
· Facilitate the child’s normal growth, learning and development
· Reduce the impact of the illness and treatment on the child and family
The goal is to build a system that will ensure that all children with cancer at the RCH, MCH or Peter Mac have access to high quality art and music therapy services throughout their journey. Art and music therapy may be used to facilitate the development of fine motor skills, language, reading, creativity and social interaction; they may be used to promote communication between the child, their parents and other adults caring for them. There is also evidence that art and music intervention can effectively support the child / adolescent in the preparation and management of medical procedures, reducing trauma and anxiety in the future.
The following short, medium and long term benefits of AMT have been identified in the literature.
Short term benefits
- Opportunity of self expression
- Alleviation of loneliness and isolation of the child
- Normalization of the environment
- The opportunity to exercise choice and control
- Reduction in anxiety
- Increased safety for the child
- Increased positive mood of the child
Medium-tem benefits
- Reduced anxiety with repeated procedures
- The discovery of new skills
Long term benefits
- A reduction in post-traumatic stress syndrome
- Creation of happy memories and tangible evidence of their illness
- Experience for the child or families of those who die
- The ability to reduce long-term anxiety about medical treatments
KOALA Foundation supports 1.0EFT music therapy at RCH, including 0.1 adolescent specific program, 0.8EFT at MMC and a consumable and music consumable budget at both sites.