PDF of Survivorship You may be familiar with Beads of Courage. They are not really jewelry; the beads are actually a linear story of strength, honor, and hope told in many colors and shapes, strung one after another.
The person stringing the beads is not a jeweler but a storyteller who is also one of the bravest people anyone could know. The bead stringer is often a child enduring arduous treatments for cancer or some other serious illness.
The program also includes patients with cancer and blood disorders, cardiac conditions, and burn injuries; neonatal ICU families; and children with chronic illness. These are not the trading beads we learned about in grade school, nor are they beads for counting, such as those in an abacus or rosary. No cultured pearl could outshine the white bead tha t signifies a chemotherapy treatment, and there are no decorative jewels or diamonds quite like the radiant glow-in-the-dark bead that a child gets for each radiation treatment.
The beads give young patients hope and help them to endure procedures. For example, a child may receive one yellow bead for each night he or she stayed away from home. Some children have strands many feet long of those yellow beads. They empower the child to take charge of their healthcare by providing a simple visual aid and representation for what they have been through and are going through.
A child can reflect on their many achievements to date, which often helps them overcome the hurdles ahead. They can see what beads are coming next and use this as a positive in the face of challenges ahead. Particularly big hurdles are rewarded with special beads. This facilitates reflection on past accomplishments when time comes around to do them again.
One of the unique handmade glass beads to mark particular Acts of Courage. Glass and ceramic artists from the International Society of Glass Beadmakers I love that this exists hand make individual beads which are rewarded for achievements such as surgery, big procedures, first days walking after immobilization, and transplants.
We find these are really helpful for getting past phobias and other significant challenges for individual children and young people, or even taking charge of their own healthcare with the Beads empowering patients to take their own medications or perform their own procedures.
The Beads also act as a visual reminder to others of exactly what the child has been through. It can be easy for healthcare professionals to forget just how many hurdles a child has been through. The beads help with that. Seeing a length of bead can even help healthcare professionals to minimize the number of procedures and tests a child has to face, or at least properly acknowledge exactly what they are asking their patient to go through.
The Beads of one of our patients, which at the time of discharge totalled over ! It adds a really positive aspect to hospital visits. When we took on the challenge of extending the programme to the rest of the hospital, we found a few useful techniques that helped us spread the Beads to as many children as hospital. These children had a range of conditions and eventually progressed to step-down to a number of different wards in the hospital.
This enabled us to visit all of these wards and start to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme. Soon, ward staff were identifying other children under their care who might benefit from Beads of Courage. An example of just some of the beads available.
There are many benefits to using Beads of Courage, but perhaps most importantly the Beads help children to articulate aspects of the condition and related health challenges. They can use the beads as a starter for what they want to discuss, and can refer to them when talking about fears or anxieties.
The beads break down the barriers between their condition and their peers, allowing them to show and explain these barriers easily becomes less daunting to both them and their friends. For parents and healthcare professionals, talking to a child about what bead they might be a little worried about getting in the future is also an incredibly useful way of facilitating difficult conversations with children and young people.
Lily was diagnosed with a optic pathway glioma, a type of brain tumour at the age of one in November. Sign up to our e-newsletter and receive exclusive stories straight to your inbox. You will also find out about our latest childhood cancer research news along with updates on our fundraising events, charity news and opportunities to support us.
Beads of Courage. Page menu. Our partnership with Beads of Courage UK. Beating Cancer: the Beads of Courage and Ted's Story Ted was diagnosed with infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at just 6 months old. YouTube needs cookies in order to display videos. Please Accept Marketing Cookies to watch this video.
What are Beads of Courage? A few examples of these beads include: Yellow bead: an overnight stay in hospital White bead: a course of chemotherapy Blue bead: visits to the clinic Glow-in-the-dark bead: a course of radiation treatment Glass bead: an act of courage Special star bead: a special accomplishment Purple heart bead: completion of treatment! We are excited to hear from you and our Program Director, Krista Burgbacher , is looking forward to supporting any questions you might have and beginning the process with you.
Beads of Courage, Inc. This includes:.
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