The project in summary
Art therapy intervention to caregivers and hospitalized children affected by cancer in Lebanon and Egypt.
The project in detail
The main objective of the “Art Therapy” project has been to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing, and foster resilience of children affected by cancer and of caregivers. Specifically, the project aimed to:
- allow children affected by cancer to express, through arts, the unspeakable, to (re)live and experience relief, thus reducing the negative and destructive impact of the disease;
- ensure all children affected by cancer are taken care of by a holistic and integrated approach combining the medical-hospital care with the stimulation of the emotional intelligence through the artistic expression;
- transfer the Skills of art therapy practice to caregivers, doctors and local nurses, thus ensuring the self-sustainability and replicability of the program in the medium-long term;
- disseminate and replicate the Best Practices of art therapy in other therapeutic and severe healthcare contexts through the elaboration of Case Studies and Clinical Reports.
Lebanon
- 57 children affected by cancer (5-12 ages) hospitalized in 5 hospitals in Beirut ( Georges Hospital, Geitaoui Hospital, Makassed Hospital, Hôtel Dieu de France Hospital, and LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital) and 1 hospital in Byblos (Notre Dame des Secours Hospital);
- 20 siblings (5-12 ages) participated to group art therapy sessions;
- 7 mothers participated to group art therapy sessions;
- 9 caregivers from MySchoolPulse previously trained, during Phase I in 2020, in applying art therapy to take care of children affected by cancer.
Egypt
- 18 caregivers (doctors and nurses) from Borg El Arab University Hospital (Pediatric Oncology Center);
- 32 children affected by cancer (4-20 ages).
Lebanon: the project, which has been implemented between January and December 2022, foresaw, also with the support of Alta Mane, the following activities:
- 615 individual and group online art-therapy sessions (534h in total) reaching 57 children affected by cancer hospitalized in 5 hospitals in Beirut and 1 hospital in Byblos, 20 brothers/sisters, and 7 mothers;
- 13 Online Refresher Sessions on art therapy practice reaching 9 MySchoolPulse caregivers;
- M&E Process intended to measure the impact on young beneficiaries and local caregivers, as well as to develop and disseminate the Best Practices in other therapeutic contexts.
Egypt: the project, which has been implemented between March and December 2022, foresaw, also with the support of Alta Mane, the following activities:
- 1 informative workshop on art therapy practice reaching 26 caregivers (doctors and nurses);
- 10 sessions (2h, 1/week) of the Arts-Based Capacity Building and Training Program and 6 coaching sessions on art therapy practice (2h, 1/week) reaching 18 doctors and nurses from Borg El Arab University Hospital (Pediatric Oncology Center) to empower them in the use of art therapy;
- 32 children affected by cancer beneficiated from 6 art therapy sessions (2h, 1/week);
- M&E Process intended to measure the impact on young beneficiaries and local doctors/nurses and to integrate art therapy practice in the care of children affected by cancer.
