Austin Film Festival

Film-themed Infusion Room for Teenagers,
Childhood Cancer & Blood Disorders Center

The Austin Film Festival’s Young Filmmakers Program has long provided Austin-area youth extraordinary educational opportunities and exciting avenues for creative exploration. In an effort to broaden its positive impact on the lives of young people, the Young Filmmakers Program is partnering with ‘Specially for Children, a premier group of pediatric oncology and hematology specialists, to provide a special facility for the treatment of teenagers with cancer and blood disorders. The new Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center will be a friendly facility incorporating a unique design reflecting the cultural diversity of Austin. On behalf of the Austin Film Festival and ‘Specially for Children, I request that you contribute to the Young Filmmakers Program’s film-oriented infusion room at the new Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

The mission of the Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center is to cure and prevent childhood and adolescent cancer and blood disorders. The Center’s health care team is comprised of experienced professionals who focus on addressing the emotional needs and concerns of children and their families while providing individualized, effective, and progressive medical treatment.

The Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center’s new facility will incorporate the central theme “The Journey: Destination Unknown” and consist of a train with a depot (reception), stores along the track (examination rooms), and a park (infusion area). Various Austin businesses have agreed to contribute to the expense of finishing the Center, and the Festival’s Young Filmmakers Program is responsible for a film-oriented infusion room for teenagers (ages 13-18). The overall cost of finishing the Center’s film-themed room is $20,000, and the Young Filmmakers Program’s initial commitment to maintain the space lasts five years. All financial contributions must be secured by the end of January 2007 to finish the facility on time.

Young patients battling cancer and blood disorders are not able to visit many public places while in treatment. The goal to create an environment that will brighten patients’ spirits and give them something to look forward to when they visit is a worthy one, but beyond that central idea exists a further need to set aside a unique, age-appropriate area for teens. Current facilities consist of several chairs in a single room for the treatment of infant to young adult patients. Very often teen and young adult patients report increased anxiety and discomfort while receiving infusions beside smaller children who play loudly with toys or create other disturbances.

Jeffrey Gold, program psychologist for the pediatric pain management clinic at USC-affiliated Childrens Hospital Los Angeles studies medical-related anxiety and pain in children. He emphasizes the value of normalcy especially with young patients. In a recent article in Reuters he explains that hospitalized children are in a foreign environment with none of the familiar comforts of home and stresses the benefits of comfort and distraction.

A recent survey of the Center’s teenage patients resulted in the common request for an area where they could “hang out” while receiving treatment. Patients requested comfortable couches, regular chairs, and an environment modeled after a typical living room. Personal comfort, coupled with the ability to interact in an accommodating and thoughtfully designed environment, is essential to encourage compliance, effective coping skills, and provide a more positive treatment experience for teen patients. The Young Filmmakers Program’s infusion room will offer patients an interesting and interactive film-oriented experience to distract them from uncomfortable procedures and make their visits seem shorter and less exhausting.

“The Journey: Destination Unknown” is an exciting idea that promises to unify design of the new Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Center behind the principle that treatment of disease must address the mental and emotional well-being of patients to reach ultimate effectiveness. The Festival’s Young Filmmakers Program is proud to partner with ‘Specially for Children in fulfilling its concept for the Center, and I hope you will choose to lend your support by donating to this worthy project as well.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Barbara Morgan
Executive Director
Austin Film Festival