About the project

The Dodói Project

The Dodói Project aims to promote the well-being of children hospitalized with cancer, prepare them emotionally for treatment, promote integration with the nursing team and the medical staff and, mainly, with the hospital environment so that, in addition to to ease their suffering and insecurity, lead them to a faster and more comfortable recovery. It addresses in a clear and objective way, in a way that is typical of childhood, the concepts of lymphoma, leukemia, bone marrow transplantation and their treatment phases, making it easier for the sick child, in a playful way, to express and understand their needs, whether physical or psychological.

In addition, Dodói Project also aims at involving and humanizing professionals who are in direct contact with the daily reality of these children, as well as strengthening family members who are often unaware of the stages and procedures of treatment.

Target audience: Children with cancer from 3 to 14 years old

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Main Goal

Facilitate the processes of expression of feelings and communication and integration between the hospitalized child, victim of oncological pathology, and the care team, thus contributing to their faster and more comfortable recovery.

Specific Objectives

• Assist in the emotional preparation of the child who will undergo hospital cancer treatment;

• Contribute to the child’s emotional, physical and mental well-being during treatment;

• Facilitate the child’s communication with their family/caregivers and with the health team;

• Integrate the child and his family into the hospital environment;

• Alleviate suffering;

• Inform, in a playful way, through material developed specifically for the Project, what the disease is and its consequences, what are the effects of the treatment, what will happen in the hospital, among others.

Why was it created?

The disease situation and the need for hospitalization in childhood cause important and intense psychosocial repercussions in the child’s life. When playing, the sick child can recover skills, develop a sense of control, exercise flexibility and spontaneity, repair frustrations, exercise adaptation mechanisms, improve their performance and recover the ability to have fun and motivation. In other words, playing helps the child undergoing treatment to regain his balance, making him feel stronger and fuller in his choices, even in the situation of illness. At the same time that they seek to cure children and adolescents with lymphoma and leukemia, in addition to other oncological diseases, all health professionals, with the contribution of volunteers and other members of the hospital team, seek to alleviate the suffering resulting from aggressive treatment. and invasive and long periods of hospitalization to which children and adolescents are subjected.

Application Modalities

• Facilitation of communication and interaction between the child undergoing treatment, the healthcare team and caregivers/family members
• Resource for play therapy and/or specific psychological management
• Research and deepening of knowledge and interpretation of individual reactions of pediatric oncology patients