Children's thoughts and feelings regarding their treatment environment: Stresspoints and coping in a pediatric hematology/oncology clinic.
Item
-
Title
-
Children's thoughts and feelings regarding their treatment environment: Stresspoints and coping in a pediatric hematology/oncology clinic.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9908382
-
identifier
-
9908382
-
Creator
-
Yeaple, William Norval.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Roger Hart
-
Date
-
1998
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Clinical | Health Sciences, Health Care Management
-
Abstract
-
Within the past forty years health professionals and architects have come to acknowledge and alleviate some of the distress and anxiety that children and teenagers experience while they are in a hospital. This new sensitivity has resulted in significant changes in the layout, function and even the appearance of pediatric healthcare facilities. While major strides have been taken to eliminate the most obvious sources of stress and anxiety, the voice of pediatric patients themselves is often missing from discussions on the subject. This research was designed to investigate children's thoughts and feeling about one kind of hospital setting where there are many causes of stress and anxiety: a pediatric hematology/oncology outpatient clinic.;The author spent nine months at a pediatric hematology/oncology clinic as a participant observer in the playroom. Forty-five patients ranging in age from 5 to 22 were interviewed. Content analysis led to the concept of stresspoints, around which the findings are reported. Stresspoints were differentiated from one another by changes in: time, location, the people involved (usually medical staff), activities (usually procedures), and the psychological and/or physical well-being of the patient. Six stresspoints were identified: entering the clinic, waiting in the Playroom, the transition between the Playroom and the screening or examination rooms, waiting to see a nurse or doctor in a screening or examination room, undergoing procedures, and when the staff had to communicate important information to the patients and their families.;The major conclusion from the research is that in order to create life-affirming environments for pediatric patients all of the actors involved should pay particular attention to the spatial and temporal stresspoints where patients and their families have to cope with extraordinary and sometimes overwhelming amounts of stress.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
