Can play therapy strengthen resilience in children with cancer?

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Can child-centred play therapy strengthen resilience in children with a cancer diagnosis?

• IRAS ID

  244732

• Contact name

  John Bates

• Contact email

  johnbates5@icloud.com

• Sponsor organisation

  Leeds Beckett University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 3 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  This research poses the following question: 'Is child-centred play therapy an effective intervention to strengthen resilience in children who may have suffered trauma as a result of a cancer diagnosis?'
  A cancer diagnosis has a significant impact on both the child and their family at the time of diagnosis, with some children having longer term psychological effects. Depending on the type of cancer, some children will face many months in hospital following diagnosis, others will have their treatment as a day case patient. Most children however will have changes in their appearance due to loss of hair, be away from school and their peer group during treatment and many will spend periods in hospital due to being unwell following their chemotherapy. The study will involve five children who have been treated in a paediatric hospital in the UK following a diagnosis of cancer. It will measure levels of resilience using Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28) (Ungar & Liebenberg 2011) and anxiety levels using The Children's Impact of Events Scale (CRIES 8) (Perrin et al 2005) over the twelve sessions of play therapy.

  The aims of the study are to support the children referred for a play therapy intervention and to explore effectiveness of the intervention in this particular group of children. It would also look to increase awareness within a hospital multi-disciplinary team of the potential benefits of a child-centred approach, particularly within this group of children who have little sense of autonomy following treatment. The research would inform my practice, allowing me to modify or adapt my interventions to allow greatest impact on the children.

• REC name

  South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/SC/0345

• Date of REC Opinion

  2 Jul 2018

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion