Estela Cabrera Lunar
Universidad Anahuac Mexico, Mexico
Title: An innovative and supporting educational program for international hematopoietic cell transplant pediatric patients and siblings
Biography
Biography: Estela Cabrera Lunar
Abstract
Pediatric patients and their families navigate an uncertain journey when the treatment option is a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The diagnosis and treatment bring an abrupt change disrupting family dynamics, and concerns that sometimes patients and siblings do not dare to ask. These concerns are of all kinds, especially social and emotional, and affect all family members. But, siblings are the most affected, being the ‘great forgotten members’ of the family, causing great conflicts in family dynamics, unbalancing the integral caring process. Latin American pediatric oncology has few didactic resources to support the disease process and help families navigate the journey alleviating their fears. The need to offer counseling and socioemotional support to the family, sick child and the siblings is paramount, to successfully reincorporate them into their daily lives without any gaps in education or socioemotional issues that could lead them to major behavioral problems in the short and medium term. The video resource Super Sam versus the marrow monsters made by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/be the Match is an educational tool, shared with the network transplant centers to help them support their pediatric patients. Hospital Angeles Lomas in the State of Mexico member of the NMDP international network has adopted the resource with their pediatric audience, with very successful results, and somehow outside of the initial intended use of the animation video, to counsel siblings too.