DAVENPORT, IOWA (March 21, 2019) –– Gilda’s Club is now accepting participants interested in the Enhancing Connections program for cancer patients with children. This five-session program will meet bi-weekly at Gilda’s Club (1234 East River Drive, Davenport), starting April 3, 2019.
The program includes ways you can:
- Enhance communication with your child in talking about your cancer;
- Draw out your child’s feelings and concerns about your cancer; and
- Support your child and decrease stress related to your cancer.
Enhancing Connections is a cancer-education program available to parents who have a five to 17-year-old and who are diagnosed with early-stage cancer (Stage 0-III) and within 12 months of diagnosis. The program was created in response to parents expressing the challenges they experienced in responding to their child during treatment for cancer.
“He doesn’t talk about how things emotionally affect him very much. And sometimes I just had to guess. And even when you asked him, he could give concrete answers, but not processing how he was feeling, emotionally, about it,” said the parent of an 11-year old.
Enhancing Connections is made available through a grant from the National Cancer Institute and is being evaluated as part of a research study.
Parents who do not meet the study-parameters are still encouraged to contact Anita Shaft, Gilda’s Club Program Manager, if interested.
For eligibility details and to enroll, please call Gilda’s Club at 563-326-7504 or email: anita@gildasclubqc.org.
About Gilda’s Club
Free of charge, Gilda’s Club Quad Cities provides support, education, and hope to all people affected by cancer. As a Cancer Support Community affiliate, we are part of the largest employer of psychosocial oncology mental-health professionals in the United States. Our global network brings the highest-quality cancer-support to the millions of people touched by cancer.
