TITLE:
Hospital Psychological Assessment with the Drawing of the Human Figure: A Contribution to the Care to Oncologic Children and Teenagers
AUTHORS:
Iracema do Vale Pinheiro, Allyson Guimarães da Costa, Débora Cristina Bandeira Rodrigues, Nália de Paula Oliveira, Adriana Malheiro, Josafá Lima Ramos
KEYWORDS:
Psycho-Oncology, Psychological Assessment Playful, Oncologic Children and Adolescents
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.6 No.4,
March
26,
2015
ABSTRACT: Cancer
affects a large number of children and adolescents each year, and studies prove
possible negative influences on the emotional state during the treatment of the
disease. This study is part of the macro search entitled “Hospital
Psychological Assessment Protocol: A Contribution to the care to Oncologic
Patients”, from which the data were extracted. The main objective of this study
was to identify the emotional disorders in oncologic children and adolescents
in the hospitalization process, through the DHF: Drawing of the Human Figure—DHF. It refers
to a cross-sectional descriptive study, with qualitative method, with approach
in psychoanalysis. The study included 10 oncohematologic children and
adolescents, aged between 5 and 17 years and 11 months in the hospitalization
process for cancer treatment in the Hospital Foundation of Hematology of the
Amazon—HEMOAM. To obtain preliminary information, we used an Anamnese script in
an interview with parents/guardians, after that, it applied the projective psychological
test, in a maximum time of 50 minutes. Among the main results identified in the
research as emotional changes in the hospitalization process, it could be
highlighted: hostility, narcissism, depression, preoccupation
with themselves, aggression, insecurity, withdrawal, regression, anxiety and tension. The emotions that were prevalent throughout the period of
hospitalization for chemotherapy were: aggression, insecurity, withdrawal, regression, anxiety and tension. The resources
used by the child and the adolescent as strategies to tackle the disease were: regression, withdrawal, aggression and hostility. It is concluded that
the instrument (DHF) allows psychological assistance which is performed without
exposing the patient to content that permeates the hospital environment, thus
favoring the therapeutic secrecy without interfering with hospital routine, but
adapting to it.