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Announcing The Garron Family Psychosocial Program, providing mental health support to cancer patients and families
Summary:
The Psychosocial Program at SickKids, which began in 2019, has refocused its efforts to provide critically important psychosocial care and practical resources for patients with cancer, families and caregivers.
On average, one child is diagnosed with cancer each day at SickKids. For each child and family, the diagnosis has immense impacts, and many will experience mental health concerns including short and longer-term anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. To address this need, the Psychosocial Program at SickKids, which began in 2019, has refocused its efforts to provide critically important psychosocial care and practical resources for patients, families and caregivers. Through their efforts, the Psychosocial team inspired donors to support this integral program.
The Garron Family Cancer Centre (GFCC) is pleased to announce the newly named program, The Garron Family Psychosocial Program.
Over the next five years, The Garron Family Psychosocial Program will focus on the following goals:
- To optimize comprehensive, needs based and effective psychosocial assessments and interventions.
- To provide consistent supports for caregivers and therapeutic opportunities for those who are highly distressed.
- To support every adolescent with personalized, developmentally tailored supportive care through their treatment and beyond.
- To build resiliency and prevent burnout in individuals and teams involved in the care of seriously ill children and their families.
The goal of The Garron Family Psychosocial Program is to provide comprehensive and tailored support for each child and family from diagnosis through treatment. This support includes adjusting to illness, addressing the psychological effects of treatment, connecting to community resources, keeping the child engaged in their education and much more.
Dr. Sarah Alexander, Murphy Family Oncology Psychosocial Program Medical Lead & Sonia Lucchetta, Social Worker, The Garron Family Psychosocial Program Co-lead
The program is thankful to our generous donors who believe in the program’s goals to support children and their families through their cancer journey with critically important mental health supports and resources. Without their support we could not achieve our goals. Thank you to our donors: Garron Family, Kindred Foundation, and the Murphy Family Foundation.