Please Tell a Story for Me Again!: Bibliotherapy for hospitalized children with cancer Ida Farida & Tety Elida ASIAN FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN’S CONTENT (AFCC) 17 May 2017

Introduction Murti Bunanta: “sick children have as much right as healthy children to also enjoy reading a book and hearing oral stories.” carried out since 1993 by SACL’s volunteers Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo (RSCM), Jakarta Introduction

Hospitalized children with cancer (Schneider, Peterson, Gathercoal, & Hamilton, 2013) have high anxiety because they cannot manage well their stressors: bone-marrow biopsies chemotherapy, blood test surgery cognitive skills developments that relate with coping to those stressors are still lacking higher emotional stress

Bibliotherapy is derived from greek words “biblion” (book) and “oepatted” (therapy). first used by Crothes in 1916. can be trace back to Aristotles times bibliotherapy cost effective treatment to reduce stress and anxiety and other conditions for soldier return home after world war I & II. Recently, bibliotherapy has been used by many professions such as teachers, librarians, nurses, school counselors, social workers (Lucas, 2004; Shechtman, 2009; Sherrill & Harris, 2014). What is Bibliotherapy?

Therapeutic Intent of Bibliotherapy for Children Preparing for going to doctors, dentist, and hospitals; Coping with crisis in the family; Overcome feeling neglected and ignored in the family; Coping with feeling shy or lonely or fears; Discussing about identity; Dealing with city life and tension; Talking about sex education; Coping with handicaps and disabilities; facing lost and death; Preparing for school (Cross & Cross, 1976, published online 2009)

Ideal Bibliotherapy Practice Selecting thematic books or reading materials appropriate with children’s situation. The reading materials must be suitable with child’s reading level and fulfill the child’s emotional and developmental needs (Lucas, Soares, & Lucas, 2013). The process includes Identification, Carthasis, and Insight (Sridhar, 2000)

“Bibliotherapy” Utilization of children’s books and other media as an intervention to help hospitalized children with cancer: forget for a while their sickness and pain reduce their stress and anxiety

Activities Follow-Up Activities Books Collection and other Media A group is organized into 4-5 people to come every Saturday Volunteers carry their book collection or from SACL’s collection Reading the books and telling stories from bed to bed Ask the children to choose the books sometimes children enjoy bibliotherapy time together: with friends next to him/her in one room Some children are liked to read by her parents or read indepedently. Picture books. Other media for telling stories: origami papers, string and puppets. Follow-Up Activities Offering activities such as making origami and colouring

Theraputic Impact Happiness Smiling face Enduring Pain Love to Hear The Story Relating to His or Her Experience Theraputic Impact

There is limitation in biblotherapy practice carried out by SACL’s volunteers in RSCM. Children enjoy the reading Children forget for a while their sickness Conclusion

References Bunanta, M., & Farida, I. (2013). SACL Volunteers ’ Experiences in Raising Their Empathy and Awareness towards Others : Sharing Stories for Hospitalized Children with Cancer. In Asia-Oceania Regional IBBY Congress Bali, May 23rd-26th 2013 (pp. 1–12). Bali. Cross, G. B., & Cross, L. B. (1976). Bibliotherapy for Young Children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 5(2), 35–70. doi:10.1080/15374417609532709 Elizabeth. (2010). Projects in Chile , Gaza , and Haiti. Bookbird, 48(4), 53. Lucas, C. V., Soares, L., & Lucas, C. V. (2013). children ’ s psychological well-being Bibliotherapy : A tool to promote children ’ s psychological well-being. Journal of Poetry Therapy: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, Research and Education, (March 2015), 37–41. doi:10.1080/08893675.2013.823310 Pardeck, J. T. (1995). Bibliotherapy : An Innovative Approach for Helping Children. Early Child Development and Care, 110(1), 83–88. doi:10.1080/0300443951100106 Schneider, N. M., Peterson, M., Gathercoal, K. A., & Hamilton, E. (2013). The effect of bibliotherapy on anxiety in children with cancer. International Journal of Child Health and Human Development, 6(3), 337–345. Shechtman, Z. (2009). Treating Child and Adolescent Agression Through Bibliotherapy (p. 239). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-0- 387-09745-9 Sherrill, W. W., & Harris, M. (2014). Enhancing patient – provider communication through bibliotherapy : A brief historical review. Journal of Poetry Therapy: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, Research and Education, 27(2), 37–41. doi:10.1080/08893675.2014.895491 Sridhar, D. (2000). Bibliotherapy for all. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(2), 77–82.