1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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)

6. 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)

7. “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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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: /
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: /
Pardeck, J. T. (1995). Bibliotherapy : An Innovative Approach for Helping Children. Early Child Development and Care, 110(1), 83–88. doi: /
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: /
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: /
Sridhar, D. (2000). Bibliotherapy for all. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(2), 77–82.