STUDYING OF THE IMAGE OF ILLNESS IN THE CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS WHICH HAVE THE ONCOHEMATOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF TREATMENT WITH DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE OF ILLNESS

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the representation of the disease in the drawings of children with cancer aged 6–10 years at different stages of treatment, with different experiences of the disease. Statistically significant differences were found in the group of children studied, which was divided into subgroups, according to the duration of treatment, knowledge of their diagnosis, experience of dealing with death, relapses, experience of staying in intensive care, and relatives who died of cancer, subjects in the pathway of preparation for bone marrow transplantation and children after bone marrow transplantation, subjects who have achieved remission and are undergoing outpatient treatment in the pathway of maintenance therapy, patients at the terminal stage of the disease. The dominant images of the disease in different subgroups of children with cancer were identified. It has been established that the idea of the disease as a ghost, a skeleton, is inherent in children with onco-haematological disease whose friends and relatives died of cancer, children experiencing a relapse of onco-haematological disease, children on outpatient treatment, children with experience of resuscitation, and experience of dealing with death. Children who are primarily undergoing treatment and children who have no experience of resuscitation are most likely to imagine the disease as a subject of medical manipulation. Children who have no experience of dealing with death are more likely to portray the disease as a person in bed. Children who do not know their diagnosis tend to think of illness as somatic reactions and imagine the disease as a natural disaster. The idea of the disease as an animal is inherent in the group of palliative care children patients.