RT Dissertation/Thesis
T1 Atención a la diversidad: apoyo psicopedagógico a niños/as oncológicos y sus familias
A1 Zabalza Cerdeiriña, María Ainoa
AB The thesis presented is part of the broad area of psychopedagogicintervention with ill children. Part of the process of "attention to diversity "and"education for all" that has become so popular in recent years as a result ofrecognizing the right to education (including the right to personal and familysupport to achieve a correct development) to all citizens, regardless of theirpersonal or social conditions. Theoretical models and practical experiences thathave been generated in this field of education serve as conceptual architecturefor the design and development of this research.Against this general background I have sought to carry out a study thatwill in turn be a reflection of my professional career over the last few years, andalso of what I have been able to learn from academic culture in terms ofcarrying out research work for my doctorate thesis. It has not always easy tocombine work, studying and research. Even less so when each of thesespheres requires such an intense level of involvement on a personal and worklevel. Nevertheless, I am pleased to present the result of all this effort and work.What we are dealing with here is a research study that combinespersonal and also scientific and professional interest. Personal, because I havedevoted myself intensively to this area in the last few years and have worked asa contracted specialist for the Asocición Española contra el Cáncer, in theClinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela. Furthermore, the subject ofattention to ill children and their families has permitted me to place thisinvestigation in an area that borders both psychology, my original area of study,and education, the area of study to which I have devoted myself in the last fewyears.From the scientific and professional point of view, the study of “copingstyles” seems to me to be a core question in the support processes that can beoffered not only to ill children but also to their families. The “coping styles” allowus to pay more precise attention to the whole set of adaptive processes of the illperson and their surroundings. Not only the styles related to illness, but ratherthose of a relational, behavioural, and so on, that are generated by theannouncement of the illness and its evolution. I understand that we are dealingwith an area of both new, as well as, significant importance, forpsychopedagogy, an area, moreover, in which medical, psychological, andeducational elements intertwine.From the scientific standpoint there is currently a large consensus thatstates that paternal behavior and affectivity play a substantial role on the growthand development of the child and that different paternal behavior and attitudesare associated with generalized and stable behavioral and attitudinal tendenciesin children (Vance y Eiser, 2004)1.Existing literature in the field of infantoncology is still not clear as to the critical factors that contribute to the paternalpsychological adjustment in the diagnosis stages and treatment phases, nor is itclear what factors are associated with the psychological adjustment of theparents and the good educational treatment to their children or what kind ofsupport they will require so as to achieve a positive adaptation to the newsituation.It is thus then, from among the manifold subjects that can be tackled fromPsychopedagogy in the field of oncologic illnesses, I have chosen the onerelated to the basic functions of educational work: support systems to peoplewho must face an illness as serious as cancer. I have focused the study on“styles of coping” which parents of oncologic children develop, and the way inwhich, knowing them, we could help them overcome the huge impact that theillness generates. Linked to the topic of coping with illness, “depressivesymptomatology” almost always appears, and which in some cases is at theroot of depression and the incapacity of some persons to overcome the illnessand to face the challenges of daily life.Knowledge and study of the existing relations, if there are any, betweenpaternal coping with illness and depressive symptomatology can help in thefield of practical in-hospital and extra-hospital psychopedagogy, to detect at theonset of the illness, subgroups of parents at risk of developing severedepressive processes or dysfunctional styles of coping with the situation.Furthermore, knowing this, we are in a position to set in motion learning,1 Vance, Y. y Eiser, C. (2004). Caring for a Child with Cancer: a Systematic Review. Pediatric Blood Cancer, 42: 249-253orientation, and supervision of more effective strategies for affronting a givensituation. This will entail a greater adaptation of the parents to the difficultsituation, as well as a better emotional and behavioral adaptation of both theparents and the ill children during the whole process.The thesis includes a second part of self-analysis of my own work with illchildren and their families. As anyone may understand, the work of offeringpsychopedagogical support to ill children and their families is not easy. Theemotional wear on the professionals is very great. In my case, this has certainlybeen so. Although it gives one immense satisfaction to see how some boys andgirls improve as treatment advances, the opposite process is also immenselyheartbreaking. Hence I feel it important to include in the thesis my own figure asa support professional: my own style of coping with the situation, since I havelived the experience with the children I have attended (with a sample number ofthem) and with their families. As a result of the analysis of the said experience, Ihope to be able to provide suggestions to those interested in devotingthemselves to this kind of work.
SN 978-84-9887-760-1
YR 2012
FD 2012-02-01
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/3612
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/3612
LA spa
DS Minerva
RD 22 abr 2026