CURRENT STATUS AND PROBLEMS OF MEDICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER

• Published in: Japanese Journal of National Medical Services Vol. 51; no. 10; pp. 463 - 470
• Main Authors: TAKEDA, Takeo, SHIMADA, Masako, HATAE, Yoshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of National Medical Services 1997
• Subjects: childhood; facilities of the hospital; malignancies
• ISSN: 0021-1699; 1884-8729
• DOI: 10.11261/iryo1946.51.463

A unified form was established by the Cooperative Study Group of the National Hospitals, and investigation on the medical environment of the pediatric clinics for cancer patients was conducted. In our hospital, over half of the patients were from remote regions beyond 100 km away. Among over half of the patients, some problems in the family occurred. The parents' needs requested to the hospital included certain equipments for the parents who take care of their children, visitors' lounge, playroom, study classes in the hospital. Major reasons for unfavourable conditions in our Pediatric Ward were lacking space in the patients' room, hardly any place to keep personal belongings, human relationships among the parents, etc. The ultimate purpose of the Pediatric Clinic must be to allow the children with cancer to return to society again, as healthy and worthy citizens. Some kinds of financial supports are necessary to provide such a medical environment in the hospital which treats chronic diseases of children as cancers. It is urgent that evaluation of financial support possibly by the Social Health Fund should be considered to the hospitals which provide such facilities for treating the children with chronic diseases.