SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES FOLLOWING A CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Providing financial and psychosocial support to children with cancer and their families
Successful treatment starts and ends with the whole family.
It is hard to imagine the shock, pain and fear a family feels when they hear the word ‘cancer’. Then add out-of-pocket costs like drugs and travel expenses, and many families soon find it hard to cope. As a result, they can end up with mounting debts, pushed further into poverty.
With little financial, practical or emotional support available, it is easy to see why so many children do not complete their treatment.
In setting the UN Sustainable Development goals the international community made ‘Leave No One Behind’ their objective. But the sad fact is that children with cancer are being left behind, as some of the most marginalised and vulnerable children in our world.
At World Child Cancer we believe that a family’s financial situation should not prevent them from accessing treatment. And that supporting a family’s mental health to help them to come to terms with a childhood cancer diagnosis is vital.
Jesse Lemmen visits a surivivor and family, Kenia
The Work We Do
World Child Cancer's support for families experiencing childhood cancer includes financial, social and emotional support.
We do this by:
- Helping vulnerable families cover the cost of treatment, travel and care.
- Providing free hospital accommodation and opening ‘Shared Care’ centres, to allow treatment in local communities.
- Offering tailored information and emotional support (including group and play therapy) to families.
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