Together and Apart: An exhibition on Experiences of Childhood Brain Tumour
Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service
Childhood brain tumour can have a profound impact on various aspects of a child’s life, as well as on their family and support network. Providing comprehensive support is crucial to helping children and their families navigate the challenges associated with childhood brain tumour.
In partnership with the Children’s Brain Cancer Centre (CBC) and funded by the Children’s Hospital Foundation (CHF), clinicians and researchers at the Children’s Health Queensland (CHQ) have been undertaking research with families who have a child diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Through this research, we collected data exemplifying the lived experience, and the psychosocial impact such a diagnosis has on the whole family. This project will enable us to share these findings, along with other related visual contributions from families (e.g., photographs, children’s art), with key stakeholders and the broader community through a public exhibition. With this activity, we hope to advocate for increased awareness and resources for this vulnerable population.
Local Team Leads: Tim Hassel & Christine Cashion, Child and Youth Cancer and Palliative Care, Centre for Healthcare Transformation, QUT: Dr Kate Young, Prof Natalie Bradford, Assoc Prof Stuart Ekberg.
Main project contacts: Evonne Miller e.miller@qut.edu.au & Sam Regi navinsam.regi@hdr.qut.edu.au
This exhibition was informed by the Survivorship and Palliative Care in Child and Adolescent Brain Cancer (CASPER) study.
Exhibition launch
The official launch of Together and apart: An exhibition on experiences of childhood brain tumour held on Tuesday 26 September at The Sphere at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus was a beautiful, moving tribute to the families, friends, clinicians, and academics involved.
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| The event brought together various interactive UX (User-Experience) design methods by displaying featuring stories, artwork, photos and poems on QUTs Data Wall (on display from 25 September-6 October.) |
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Artworks and books by families were set up for guests to read and admire at the launch. |
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One of the families told us about the choices they made for an artwork they created for their family using the Kintsugi technique to reflect their particular journey. They chose to use large china Lego figures which they broke and repaired in a deliberate way.
Kintsugi technique: If a bowl is broken, rather than discarding the pieces, the fragments are put back together with a glue-like tree sap and the cracks are adorned with gold. There are no attempts to hide the damage, instead, it is highlighted. |
The QUT Design Lab team set up a Maker Space activity table – a popular way for guests of all ages to express their messages of hope which will then be made into a Zine (a collage magazine).
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We hope this exhibition will ignite a community-wide conversation about the experiences and as we share stories and journeys of families who have a child diagnosed with a brain tumour.
This exhibition is bought to you through the Healthcare Excellence AcceLerator (HEAL) collaboration, a partnership with the QUT Design Lab funded by the Healthcare Improvement Unit at Clinical Excellence Queensland.
If you were unable to attend the Exhibition in person follow this link below to view a digital version
Official launch of ‘Together and apart: An exhibition on experiences of childhood brain tumour’, 26 Sept 2023