The Friends of Cancer Children eV Freiburg i. Br. With the project “Elternhaus mit Geschwisterspielstube Regenbogen”, Freiburg im Breisgau, receives the HanseMerkur Prize for Child Protection 2020
A child’s cancer is a profound invasion of family life. Suddenly the uncertainty about the course of the illness and the chances of recovery, the impending loss, the often massive treatment with chemotherapy and the everyday psychological stress when dealing with the sick child are the focus of parental concern. The siblings often come up short. They quickly grasp the dramatic situation and adapt to the circumstances: put their needs aside, work so as not to “stress” the parents even more, help where they can, and so often miss their own childhood. In order to relieve the family situation, the Friends of Cancer Children eV in Freiburg created the first housing options near the university clinic 40 years ago and since then has not only ensured that sick children can be accompanied to a large extent by their parents, but also has them Keeping an eye on the needs of the siblings.
Shortly after renting the first living space, the development association set up the rainbow sibling playroom against this background. The first parental home was opened in 1995. The “Karl-Günther-Haus” was expanded another ten years later by an extension, the “Haus Ortenau”, and records around 18,000 overnight stays per year. The eight board members of the association know what they are talking about when they talk about rooming-in and the sibling playroom. Six of them have children diagnosed with cancer of their own. “The diagnosis pulls families out of their everyday lives completely unprepared and confronts them with great emotional, organizational and financial challenges. At the same time, the relatives are an indispensable support for the sick child. The family situation therefore has a direct impact on the child’s wellbeing and the success of the treatment, ”says Johannes Bitsch, board member of the association.
Every year around 1,000 families are accommodated in the Freiburg family home. Some stay for only a few days, others for weeks, some even for years. The offer is free of charge for parents, a small part is covered by the health insurances, the rest is financed from donations. The parental home is a place of security, a second home, in which the families are taken care of in their hardest hours by an experienced, multi-professional team.
The siblings usually accompany the parents. But that means changing school or kindergarten, the temporary loss of friends and playmates as well as fear and concern for the sick brother or sister. It is all the more important for the siblings that they can spend their free time in the sibling playroom “Rainbow”. Here, educators and art therapists look after siblings between the ages of 0 and 16 in groups that change on a daily basis and also support families in crisis and palliative situations. The employees are specially trained for this special situation. The worry about the sick brother or sister, the overwhelmed parents in connection with the overpowering fear of losing a brother or sister are very stressful. The siblings want to help and quickly understand that their only meaningful contribution can be to function, not to become a second burden and to be “nice”. Circumstances that make many children behave abnormally. It is precisely then that the support provided by the trained staff in the “Rainbow” sibling room is particularly important. Through intensive, attentive, caring and situation-related care, it is possible to recognize the emotional needs of the “healthy” siblings and to deal with them in a targeted manner. Behavioral observation, role play and individual support are just as much a part of the pedagogues’ tools as play and art therapy as well as adventure education offers for children and adolescents. In addition, the Geschwisterspielstube regularly offers events for grieving siblings.
Anneka Haigis, head of the rainbow team, describes everyday life as follows: “It is a daily challenge to do justice to all children. From looking after the little ones to supervising homework, from organizing visits to the cinema to many, many conversations, we do everything. In the summer we regularly organize holiday camps in order to bring as much normality as possible into the lives of the siblings. “
At the same time, people in Freiburg are looking ahead. The Freiburg children’s and youth clinic is being rebuilt, which is why the Association for Children with Cancer eV Freiburg i.Br. also build a new home – again just a few steps away from the clinic, so that the parents can be accommodated in the immediate vicinity of their sick child again in the future. The shell of the new parents’ house has just celebrated the topping-out ceremony. The move should take place in 2023, parallel to the move of the clinic. Then the “Rainbow” sibling playroom will also receive the children in the new rooms.
“The topic of rooming-in and a study that HanseMerkur commissioned back in 1979 not only led to the development of new health insurance offers, but also laid the foundation for the HanseMerkur Prize for Child Protection”, explains Eberhard Sautter, CEO of HanseMerkur, the special reference to the topic. “The fact that the development association goes one step further with its approach is very worthy of support.”
The Friends of Cancer Children eV Freiburg i. Br. With the sibling playroom “Rainbow” is dedicated to a topic that is not taken into account in classic rooming-in. With a lot of commitment, empathy and professional know-how, he helps the siblings of the affected families.
(Press release: Association for Children with Cancer eV Freiburg i.Br., December 10th, 2021)
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