Programs We Provide

Our Unique Approach

We provide spiritual, social, emotional and financial support to both the patient and their family... during treatment and beyond. All of our programs are free of charge and open to the 1000 children and families we serve each year.

Child Life Program and Events

ASK's Child Life Program is run by a full-time Child Life Therapist who works in the ASK Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic. The program's child life therapist and volunteers serve as the children's advocates, helping them maintain contact with their friends back home and celebrating milestones of their childhood.

During long hours spent in the clinic, the child life therapist provides supportive intervention, as well as educational and therapeutic play. Children are encouraged to express themselves through play, using toys to demonstrate their feelings about medical treatments and procedures.

ASK's Child Life Program strives to provide as many normal life experiences as possible during treatment and offer opportunities for cancer patients and their families to forget about their disease and enjoy life.

The organization organizes events such as:

• Day at Kings Dominion
• “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” – a salon day for teen girls.
• “Boys Will Be Boys” – a laser tag and sporting event for teen boys.
• Family Picnic
• Easter at the Zoo
• Christmas in July
• Holiday Party

Monthly birthday parties, annual high school graduation ceremonies, and weekly celebrations for successful treatments are ongoing. ASK also partners with Special Love and Smile Buddies for additional social support and activities. All events a free to ASK families. Our Kings Dominion Day and Holiday Party are our biggest events with approximately 300 in attendence at each event.

Psychological Services

Coping with a life-threatening illness like cancer or a serious blood disorder is an overwhelming challenge for even the most courageous children and their loved ones. ASK understands the enormous strain these diseases place on families and offers emotional and psychological support to find the strength they need to accept, understand and fight these diseases.

ASK provides psychological services from a doctoral-trained, state licensed professional on a consultative basis to children and their caretakers. Services include but are not limited to: psychological assessment and diagnosis, individual and family psychotherapy, pain and symptom management, consultation with other members of the psychosocial team to develop a support plan for those struggling to cope with the issues surrounding childhood cancer and serious blood disorders.

Pastoral Care & Chaplain Fund

The Chaplain provides counseling, spiritual guidance, sympathetic companionship, and crisis intervention to children with cancer and their families. Recognizing the heavy financial toll that a diagnosis of cancer can have on a family, the Chaplain also administers ASK's Chaplain Fund, supported through the Brett Jones Memorial Foundation. This account is designed to help families in crisis pay for items such as rental and/or mortgage payments, utility bills, overnight hotel stays, parking and meal tickets, groceries and funeral expenses. This past year we werer able to help 50 families with grants totaling $35,000.

Family-to-Family Program and Friendly Vistor Program

The Family-to-Family Program helps families connect within the hospital setting and provides them with support. Upon diagnoses, a family is assigned a parent whose child has already undergone treatment for the same or similar type of cancer. This past year we were able to connect 40 families with a mentor family.

New families are also invited to a monthly “new diagnosis” support group open to all parents. The final component of the Family-to-Family Program is a short, monthly e-newsletter which provides clinic news (i.e. upcoming Child Life events and activities, off-treatment announcements, etc.) and personal stories.

Most recently ASK began a Friendly Visitor Program on weekends. This program provides specially trained volunteers to help children and families on the pediatric inpatient unit. Weekends can be very lonely and it's a good time for parents to take a break. Our volunteers are there to offer free babysitting, laundry service, a listening ear, or anything thta is needed to give the child and parents a small respite from the hospital routine. On average our volunteers support 5 families per day.

Moving Forward

In coordination with the YMCA, Moving Forward is a fun and dynamic physical fitness program designed to help survivors improve strength, mobility, coordination, endurance, balance, and self-esteem. We have 15 children and families enrolled in Moving Forward this year.

Young Adult Survivors Group

Young Adult Survivors Group connects 20-30 year old childhood cancer survivors for educational and social support.

The group directs its attention to the needs of teens and young adults after their cancer treatments are complete. They tackle medical, social, psychological, employment and insurance issues that may affect them as they mature. An annual young adult retreat is planned each year.

First STEP – Socialization Through Enriched Play

ASK has realized the need to develop additional supportive services for young children whose preschool or kindergarten experience has been postponed or interrupted during medical treatment.

First STEP offers an individualized early childhood educational program for ASK Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic patients and families. First STEP is especially designed to meet the unique educational, social and emotional needs of young children with chronic illnesses as they go through the process of healing. This program is provided though the partnership with First Baptist Weekday School.  We currently have 9 children enrolled in First STEP.

Educational Services & Scholarships

In partnership with Alma Morgan, Educational Consultant, ASK helps sponsor an annual graduation luncheon and ceremony for graduating high school cancer survivors. Additionally, through generous donations, ASK is able to give graduates a scholarship for continuing education. In 2009 we had 18 graduates receiving scholarships.

While our children are battling cancer, they are also striving to be successful in the educational setting. Unfortunately, due to absences for prolonged hospitalizations, clinic visits, and just not feeling well due to treatment or the disease itself, many of these children and teens are finding it difficult to stay caught up in their school work. Many children who received surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a bone marrow transplant, suffer late cognitive effects of treatment. These late effects may include short-term memory loss, difficulty with word retrieval, inability to focus and concentrate for long periods, and slower processing skills. In addition, vision, hearing, speech, and fine motor skills may be impaired. All of these side effects or late effects may have great consequences in regards to the child’s academic achievement.

ASK has partnered with the Educational Consultant to provide tutoring, neuropysch testing and evaluations, educational workshops, college and vocational advising, and scholarships in an effort to help children with cancer succeed in the academic setting during and after their treatments. We currently have 20 children scheduled for tutoring and have provided testing for 15 others.

ASK for Comfort

Throw away those drab hospital gowns! ASK and the VCU School of Fashion Design and Merchandising will be launching a new line of clothing especially designed for children with cancer. VCU fashion design students worked with patients and their parents to create and produce a line of leisure wear garments for use in the hospital that would be easily accessible for medical procedures as well as stylish, comfortable and fun for the kids. The clothing will be donated annually to the approximately 75 newly diagnosed children who are going through cancer treatment locally and will be sold nationally.

Dream Rooms

ASK is teaming up with USA Baby /ChildSpace to bring lots of love and comfort to children battling cancer in Central Virginia. USA Baby is donating new furniture in hopes of bringing a little happiness to a sick child. Since the children are often isolated for months at a time in their homes, these makeovers provide a welcoming space to call their own. We try to provide 2 makeovers per year.

Partnerships

ASK partners with the following hospital professionals to provide additional services:

• Art Therapist
• Music Therapist
• Educational Consultant
• Social Worker
• Sickle Cell Nurse Practitioner

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