Play as a care strategy for children with cancer

Abstract

Objective:To understand the infl uence of play in the care process as perceived by children with cancer. Method: A descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study conducted in a children's cancer unit in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Data were collected between October 2013 and January 2014 by means of photographic records and semi-structured interviews with eight children, and content analysis with emphasis on two categories: Auxiliary instruments during play; and The infl uence of play in the process of care. Results: Recreational activities involve watching television, using computers, games and toys, drawing, the playroom and the clown, which provide fun, feelings of joy, distraction and interaction with other people. Conclusion: There are several activities at the hospital that are considered play-related and, for the children, they all benefi t their care process. Keywords: Play therapy. Oncology nursing. Child, hospitalized. RESUMO Objetivos:Compreender a infl uência do lúdico para o processo de cuidar, na percepção de crianças com câncer. Método: Estudo qualitativo, exploratório descritivo, realizado em um setor de oncopediatria em Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados entre os meses de outubro de 2013 e janeiro de 2014, por meio de registros fotográfi cos e entrevista semiestruturada, com oito crianças, e analisados conforme a Análise de Conteúdo, destacando-se duas categorias de discussão: Os instrumentos auxiliares na ludicidade; e A infl uência do lúdico no processo de cuidar. Resultados: As atividades lúdicas envolvem o assistir à televisão, o uso de computadores, os jogos e os brinquedos, a realização de desenhos, a brinquedoteca e o palhaço, os quais proporcionam diversão, sentimentos de alegria, distração e interação com outras pessoas. Conclusão: Existem diversas atividades, no hospital, entendidas como lúdicas, todas as quais, para a criança, proporcionam benefí-cios para o seu processo de cuidar. Palavras-chave: Ludoterapia. Enfermagem oncológica. Criança hospitalizada. RESUMEN Objetivo:Comprender la infl uencia de lo lúdico en el proceso de atención, en la percepción de los niños con cáncer. Método: Estudio cualitativo, exploratorio descriptivo, realizado en un sector de oncología pediátrica en Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. Los datos fueron recogidos entre los meses de octubre de 2013 y enero de 2014, a través de los registros fotográfi cos y entrevistas semiestructuradas con ocho hijos, y analizados según el análisis de contenido, destacando dos categorías de discusión: Los instrumentos auxiliares en la alegría; La infl uencia de lo lúdico en el proceso de atención. Resultados: Las actividades recreativas implican ver televisión, usar computadoras, juegos y juguetes, la realización de dibujos y el payaso, que proporcionan diversión, sentimientos de alegría, distracción y la interacción con los demás. Conclusión: Hay varias actividades, en el hospital, entendido como lúdico y que, para el niño, todos proporcionan benefi cios para su proceso de atenci...

Mothers' perception on recreational activities in the treatment of childhood cancer

“…The child happens to be in a limited place, where hospital routines and the environment itself diminish the repertoire of activities he/ she used to perform, which can interrupt his/her natural development. Moreover, due to the child's own health condition, he/she is instructed to avoid certain actions and contact with other patients, which reduces the child's interaction with people and, sometimes, causes fear in the face of illness and treatment [14].…”

“…The ludic presents as a strategy that can minimize the discomforts caused by hospitalization and help in coping with the disease, besides being a resource that facilitates the nursing intervention, and should be incorporated as a care phase for children with cancer [14].…”

Humor and Laughing: The Benefit of Hospital Clowns in Pediatrics for Hospitalized Children and their Families: A Review

“…Over half of studies of clown intervention lasted less than 15 minutes [3,4,12,15,16,21,22,25,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. For seventy one percent of the studies the intervention is realized by one clown at one visit [4,5,9,11,15,16,19,21,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] and in twenty nine percent of the studies the clowns intervention is realized by two clown at one visit [10,[12][13][14]17,18,22,34]. …”

“…Other clinical outcomes medical procedure were the length of time spent in hospital 29 or the systolic blood pressure [11,20,29]. In most of the cases, the well-being was evaluated by interview [31][32][33]. Heterorated 7 [11][12][13][14]18,19,28] Blinded evaluators 2 [18,19] State and trait anxiety inventory for children (STAIC) scale 2 to 12 Self-rated 2 [22,28] State and trait anxiety inventory (STAI) adults Self-rated 9 [9][10][11][12][13][14]18,23,28] Likert scale Self-rated 1 [17] Children anxiety and pain scales (CAPSAnxiety)…”

“…Three of them were qualitative studies without parallel groups and quantitative measures [31][32][33] and one of them was randomized prospective and controlled study. In this last study, authors used a multivariate analysis and reported that clown intervention had no impact on the well-being of children and their parents [34].…”