Abstract • 46
A new project aimed at establishing parents support groups was started by the Comitato Maria Letizia Verga in 1997. This is part of the psyco-social programme being developed in our department which involves professionals and parents in a therapeutic alliance to offer the best quality of life to children suffering from leukemia and to their families. The need for such initiative was identified by the psyco-social team in 1996 on the occasion of the annual meeting of the parents belonging to the Comitato. The analysis of parents' attitudes towards communication and their capacity to cope with highly stressful situations suggested the need to design a comprehensive approach including an evaluation process and specific training. Thirteen parents, seven mothers and six fathers, including two couples, accepted to participate in the first course. This was led by a communication expert and a psycologist and took place in a small hotel during 4 weekends over a period of 3 months. Through lectures, workshops and role pl´ying, parents were introduced to the main issues of communication and taught how to recognize and make use of their own inner resources. At the end of the course, an action plan was developed taking into account suggestions made during interviews with parents and professionals and the need to better integrate the new activities into the existing programs. The plan was presented at the annual parents' meeting in October 1997 and implementation started in January 1998. The activities of the helping parents (we call them GA - genitori/aiuto) include parents to parents contacts in the outpatient clinic and on the ward and a self-help group meeting once a week in the evening on the ward. Despite the enthusiasm and the commitment of the parents involved, the experience went through many initial difficulties which are being overcome with the close and fruitful cooperation of the whole psico-social team. In November 98, a first evaluation showed great appreciation of the initiative from parents as well as from professionals. The detailed procedure of the project will be illustrated.
