Cebuana psychologist attends international pediatric conference

Dr. Angie with cancer-stricken children.

Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez, PhD, CCLS, a Manila based psychologist, will attend the 46th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) that will take place on October 22-25 in Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Angie’s abstract, “Addressing The Psychosocial Needs Of The Hospitalized Child: The Role Of The Kythe Child Life Program”, was accepted for an e-poster presentation. The poster will be displayed electronically and will be available for viewing on e-Poster stations throughout the congress.

The abstract is based on a study Dr. Angie did with Nina Nerissa Sumpaico-Jose that seeks to determine and compare the levels of anxiety in children aged 5-12 years old, diagnosed with life-limiting illnesses and exposed to the Kythe Child Life Program (CLP) against those who have not been exposed to the Kythe CLP. Children’s drawings, specifically, the Child Drawing: Hospital (by Clatworthy et al., 1999), a validated and reliable tool used to provide a measure of the anxiety level of the child as expressed by the child himself was used in the study.

Kythe CLP is learning about what the child-patient thinks and feels while confined in the hospital and making sure that “the hospital is not only a place to heal, but also a place to learn, play and grow.”

Dr. Angie will join the group of Dr. Julius Lecciones, Medical Director of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and Drs. Kathryne Pascual and Cecilia Leongson-Cruz. They are part of the program My Child Matters – Philippines (MCM), supported by the Sanofi Espoir Foundation that works to raise awareness on pediatric cancer and to educate nurses, doctors and allied medical professionals working with children with cancer and their families throughout the Philippines.

Dr. Angie finished her BS Psychology (cum laude) at the University of San Carlos in 1996. She completed her MAsters in Family Life and Child Development at UP Diliman in 2001 and earned her Ph.D. Counseling Psychology in De La Salle University in 2012. She is one of two Certified Child Life Specialists in the country and is practicing developmental psychologist at the Pain Clinic of St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City, Taguig.

Meeting an icon and fulfilling a dream

 

Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez with Dr. Garry Landreth

In my May 19, 2014 blog, ‘Cebu psychologist invited to speak in international summit’, I mentioned about the invitation extended to Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez, a Counseling Psychologist and the Child Life Program Manager of Kythe Foundation Inc., not only as a lone delegate from the country, but also as a panel presenter in The State of International Pediatric Psychosocial Services, an invitational International Summit, that will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, on May 25 – 27, 2014.

As a follow-up of this event that is going on, I want to share with you an email we received from her.

We had a keynote speaker this morning, Dr. Garry Landreth. In the mid 90s after graduating from college, I was searching for opportunities to learn about play therapy and I wrote this university in Texas about their program. For years there was mail the school would send but as they didn’t have a scholarship program, I knew I could never get there. Dr. Landreth was the head of play therapy in that school. When I started grad studies in UP, I chanced upon his book in the UP library and fotocopied it immediately…It was the first book I ever read on play therapy and started me on my journey to using play for therapeutic purposes. I’ve always wondered about the person and have quoted him in my presentations…and then he was right in front of me today. It was the first talk I ever attended that I was crying for most part of the session. What an amazing person he was and the things he was saying..his love and respect for children..It is also the first time that I listened to every word the speaker was saying. 🙂 after his talk, I knew I just had to go to him and I asked Karen, my friend from South Africa, to take my picture with him. I was of course crying when I talked to him and I told him how his book started me off in my play therapy journey and I asked if I could give him a hug and he said yes and gave me a big hug and said, “bless you”. We chatted a bit but I guess he knew the impact of the moment on me.. It’s like coming full circle, you know. He was, I feel, touched by it, as well..as he gave me another hug. If only for that moment, this trip is well worth it.
When I went up to my room for a bit after that, I said a prayer, so thankful for the experience and I could just hear the answer to that.. If I follow what He wants me to do, He gives me back the things He knows are important to me. I never thought in my lifetime I’d get to meet Dr. Landreth up close but I even got to hug him – twice! 🙂

Cebu psychologist invited to speak in International Summit

 

Dr. Angie with chronically ill children at the National Children Hospital in Quezon City.

An invitation has been extended to Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez, a Counseling Psychologist and the Child Life Program Manager of Kythe Foundation Inc., not only as a lone delegate from the country, but also as a panel presenter in The State of International Pediatric Psychosocial Services, an invitational International Summit, that will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, on May 25 – 27, 2014.

Having been acknowledged and recognized for her passion and success in advocating for and supporting Child Life Programs in various affiliate hospitals around the country when she was invited last year by the Organization for Pediatric Support in South Africa (OPSSA) to speak in the first interdisciplinary Academic Conference on the Holistic Support of Children in Healthcare, Dr. Angie, as she is known, will present about Child Life in the Philippines, and on the subject “Aspiring to Expand Psychosocial Care Beyond a Hospital to National or System Scope”. She is expected to share about the current state of pediatric psychosocial care in the country, as well as, moving beyond the hospital setting and providing psychosocial care to children and families in the community or national level.

The goal of the Child Life Program is to help address the psychosocial needs of pediatric chronically ill patients. Specifically, it focuses in helping children cope with the stress and anxiety of their healthcare experiences, as well as, to promote their continued development – physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively – even while hospitalized.

After the summit , Dr. Angie will go to Memphis, Tennessee to observe the state’s Child Life Program from June 1, 2014 through June 14, 2014. She is a recipient of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital International Visitor Education Program (IVEP). As an observer, she will attend clinics, rounds and formal conferences.

Dr. Angie is a Certified Child Life Specialist having passed the exams given by the Child Life Council in the USA last year. She is also a psychologist at the Pain Clinics of St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City, Taguig and Manila Doctor’s Hospital.

Dr. Angie finished her BS Psychology (cum laude) at the University of San Carlos in 1996. She completed her Masters in Family Life and Child Development at UP Diliman in 2001 and earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in De La Salle University in 2011.

 

Child euthanasia approved in Belgium

 

This is one report that really breaks my heart.

This is about Belgium becoming the first country in the world to remove any age restrictions on euthanasia.

Euthanasia is the intentional termination of a very sick person’s life by a doctor in order to relieve him or her of their pain and suffering.

The controversial practice, also called “mercy killing,” is being applied to people under the age of 18 in Belgium twelve years after the country legalized euthanasia for adults.

Under the amendments to the country’s 2002 euthanasia law, a child now of any age can be helped to die, but only under strict conditions. He or she must be terminally ill, close to death, and deemed to be suffering beyond any medical help. The child must be able to request euthanasia themselves and demonstrate they fully understand their choice. The request will then be assessed by teams of doctors, psychologists and other care-givers before a final decision is made with approval of the parents.

An open letter signed by more than 100 pediatricians said there is no urgent need for this law, and argued that modern medicine is capable of alleviating pain. Doctors said extending the “right to die” to minors will only add to the stress and pain of families at a difficult time.

Exactly!

I understand if adults opt to give up their lives.

But, do we have to treat the kids the same way – grant them the right to die?

I feel so badly about this development in Belgium because I have a daughter, Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez, who is very much involve in pain management among cancer-stricken children, making sure that the patients are being attended to by talking and/or playing games with them, making them laugh and enjoy whatever is left of their lives,  so they could cope up with the suffering  they are having before death claims them. (Please go to this link:  http://kythe.org/site/about-us/our-core-team/, to know more about the organization she is connected with that cares for some terminally ill children.)

I am also including another link: https://tl-ph.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10151373490372793, which contains a video that the Belgian parliament could have looked into before deciding that mercy killing should also be applied to children.They could have learned something from us – a third world country.

This Belgian law is simply indifferent and inhumane, as it is also despicable.

Lone Asian from Cebu invited to speak in SA conference

Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez

The Organization for Pediatric Support in South Africa (OPSSA), in partnership with Netcare, will be hosting the Inaugural South African Conference: Supporting Children in Healthcare, the first interdisciplinary Academic Conference on the Holistic Support of Children in Healthcare, on April 12-13, 2013 (http://www.opssa.org.za/page.php?86).

OPSSA utilizes Child Life principles to empower children and families in healthcare. Its program focuses on the social and emotional impact of illness and hospitalization and strives to promote a positive hospital experience for children.

Among those invited to speak is Dr. Angie Sievert-Fernandez, whose abstract, “Developmental Characteristics in , Chronically Ill Filipino Children’s Concept of Pain: An Exploratory Study”, has been the only one from Asia to be selected. She will not only be putting child life in the Philippines in the international scene, but, hopefully, will inculcate in the minds of Filipinos the importance of child life practice.

There will be a pre-conference International Forum Discussion that will take place at Netcare Head Office on the evening of April 11, 2013, where Dr. Sievert-Fernandez was asked by OPSSA and Netcare to start the forum to give a vivid picture of what Child Life Services look like in the Philippines and how (if at all) it differs from the USA. It also aims to present what Child Support Services look like in South Africa at the moment, what they can look like and how they could get there.

Angie with cancer stricken children in one of Manila’s hospitals

Dr. Sievert-Fernandez is a counseling psychologist and a child life advocate working with Kythe Foundation, Inc. (http://www.kythe.org) to establish Child Life Programs in various affiliate hospitals around the Philippines.

The goal of the Child Life Program is to help address the psychosocial needs of pediatric chronically ill patients. Specifically, it focuses in helping children cope with the stress and anxiety of their healthcare experiences, as well as, to promote their continued development – physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively – even while hospitalized.

Dr. Sievert-Fernandez finished her BS Psychology (cum laude) at the University of San Carlos in 1996. She completed her MAsters in Family Life and Child Development at UP Diliman in 2001 and earned her Ph.D. Counseling Psychology in De La Salle University in 2012.