The Beaded Journey
Location: Royal Children's Hospital & Monash Children's Hospital
Funding Requirement: $25,000 per year
Funding Period: (Year) Funding covers 3 yrs
Aim of Project:
The Beaded Journey Program is a creative and innovative program designed as a therapeutic tool to assist children and families’ psychological adaptation to their cancer experience
Description of project:
At diagnosis, the child and family receive a beaded rope with the child’s name upon it. Children then receive beads for undergoing medical procedures (e.g. finger pricks or lumbar punctures etc) and specific beads to acknowledge events e.g. hospital inpatient during significant holidays etc. Each bead represents a different part of the journey. Families also receive a beaded journey journal in which parents or children can record their medical procedures and aspects of their experience if they wish to do so. The beads become a visual memory for children and families of their cancer journey. The child and family build a visual representation of their journey. Key events are recorded in a child friendly medium which children of any age can interpret and explain to others. This program is provided to children attending at RCH and MCH as part of the Comfort First program and is strictly regulated to ensure the program is managed. Children attending for procedures at the Peter MacCallum Cancer or in regional centres, can complete the diary and have the beads added on their next visit to the RCH or MCH.
The Beaded Journey commenced roll out in January 2009 and children of all ages, even the teenagers have shown enormous levels of enthusiasm as they have embraced the concept of building a 3 dimensional record of their journey.
