Flying the kite for kids

Across Australia in 2010 over 27,000 children were living with or in close contact with a parent suffering cancer.

Sensing that children were largely being excluded from the illness and treatment process, a program called ‘My Kite Will Fly’ – created from research undertaken at the University of Melbourne, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Parkville – is helping provide kids with a real role to play in their parents’ illnesses, and an understanding of the issues involved.

‘My Kite Will Fly’ was founded by Professor Michael Quinn, Professor of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University and a leading expert in the treatment of gynaecological cancer.

“Cancer doesn’t affect individuals – it affects whole families and sometimes whole communities,” Professor Quinn says. “After helping the patient with their struggle through cancer, the next step is turning to care for the partners, children, family and friends.

“Cancer is inevitably a crisis and individuals can get overlooked during the treatment process, which is why ‘My Kite Will Fly’ is such a very, very important project,” Professor Quinn says. “Helping the children of cancer patients through the ordeal is crucial – and honesty is usually the best policy”.

As part of the program, Dr Cynthia Holland, an educator, legal practitioner and researcher in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, returned to her roots as an art teacher, to help children who may be feeling isolated, frightened, or confused due to a chronic or terminal cancer diagnosis of a parent.

“‘My Kite Will Fly’ is about making kids an active part of the process, helping them be very much members of the family support team in learning about the healthcare process and giving them some sense of helping as an important family member. We also emphasise the importance of celebrating the relationships that children and parents so deeply value by enabling families to build a book of shared memories so the child can keep their parent as part of their life well into their own futures.

“It’s about helping people understand that life is all about change,” she says.

In recognition of her work with ‘My Kite Will Fly’ and her extraordinary academic career, Dr Holland has now been awarded one of the prestigious 2012 Harvard University Leadership Fellowships.

The Fellowship, which is awarded to only 25 people worldwide, will allow Dr Holland to attend classes, conduct tutorials and contribute to the vision of the Harvard Business School to help foster social purpose projects that address some of the world’s most significant entrepreneurial challenges.

Dr Holland has been awarded the prize as a result of her amazing breadth of work stemming from her extensive academic history at the University of Melbourne.

As well as a Diploma in Education and Masters of Law, Dr Holland has completed undergraduate and masters degrees in Social Work, and a PhD in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and has taken these skills straight into the workforce. She has practised as a Barrister, specialising in medical litigation, psychiatry and crime, and run a business in Japan.

“My experience of studying at the University of Melbourne has been invaluable to me in receiving this fellowship. Harvard want to recruit people to work together to make some difference to the common good and I’m particularly interested in how we can use the business acumen of the Harvard Business School to introduce sustainable affiliations in health work,” Dr Holland explains.

Although her PhD was in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, the project grew into something that would change her focus forever. Her PhD involved a study of women suffering from gynaecological malignancy, but through this Dr Holland looked at the needs of 53 kids who were dealing with a parent suffering from cancer.

“Really it’s all about helping children of all ages to better understand that if you don’t change, life changes you, so let’s turn that into something that is as positive as it can be,” she says.

The ‘My Kite Will Fly’ program is designed for children aged 3–6 years, 6–9 years and 9–12 years, and can be available for parents, grandparents and other family members who are concerned about children affected by their parents’ cancer.

Observation of channelled art provides health professionals a window into the minds of children, therefore determining future steps and milestones. The most important aspect, however, is that the very act of drawing becomes therapy in itself, and provides a child the ability to express what may not be easily spoken.

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