A young patient with Dr. Andrea Ferrari, pediatric oncologist, coordinator of the Youth Project of the National Cancer Institute
The Youth Project of the National Cancer Institute of Milan arrives on TV becoming the subject of a new series. Debuts Monday 18 November I caught a Crab, created in collaboration with Mediafriends and with the support of the Bianca Garavaglia Ets Foundation. The sitcom, written and performed by young patients in the pediatric oncology department under the supervision of a team of professionals, he talks about daily life in the hospital with irony and sincerityoffering children a tool for expression that helps them process emotions and share fears and hopes.
This is the latest artistic initiative born within the INT Youth Project, which has been committed for some time now not only to the treatment of oncological diseases in adolescents, but also to improving the quality of their lives. The project, active since 2011 and coordinated by Dr. Andrea Ferrari, pediatric oncologist, aims to create a personalized care model for adolescent and young adult patients, a “middle ground” between pediatric and adult oncology, offering spaces for creative expression that allow them to process and share emotions complex issues related to the treatment process.
«Quality of life is an essential component, as much as the quality of care», says Dr. Ferrari. «This is why we have reserved exclusive spaces for our adolescent patients, where they can participate in projects that use artistic and creative paths to allow them to tell their stories, to express fears, hopes and dreams. These projects, which require several months to complete, offer the children a goal to strive towards, a prospect of the future.”
One of the most recent and representative examples of this vision is the web series I caught a Craba project in seven episodes of seven minutes each created by adolescent patients with the support of a multidisciplinary team. The episodes, filmed inside the pediatric oncology clinic, tell the story of life in the hospital with irony and light-heartedness, tackling complex issues such as the management of therapies and relationships. Through their interpretation of everyday situations, patients can give voice to common experiences and, as Marco says, “make them communicable to others by laughing about them”. «The sitcom» continues Doctor Ferrari «has allowed us to address issues that, for unfortunately we are not light and ironic. It is not easy to tell your story of illness, the obstacles that we have faced every day or that we still have to face. We can say, in this sense, that it was truly therapeutic!
The same guys were protagonists of every creative phase of the project, from the screenplay to the interpretation, bringing multiple characters to the small screen (there is the Latin lover, the influencer, the musician, the spoiled one, the needle phobic, the problem solver , and so on) and identifying the themes of the different episodes. Each of the episodes focuses on a single topic of hospital life, like the arrival of the spoiled girl in a ward that she initially hates and then learns to love, or the sushi party held behind the doctors’ backs.
This is how Edoardo and Marta describe this experience: «Perhaps the themes we have chosen to talk about will surprise you but, in reality, they are precisely those that really count for a boy of our age: how you see yourself in the mirror, how you (or not) know how to relate to your friends, girls you would like to hit on, but don’t have the courage to do so.” The web-series therefore becomes not only a communication tool, but also a powerful therapeutic means, allowing children to express themselves and support each other in a family environment.
«These projects» declares Maura Massimino, Director of the Division of Pediatric Oncology of the National Cancer Institute «also serve to draw attention to the medical peculiarities of adolescent patients, who are less likely than children to be treated in centers of excellence and in clinical protocols and for various tumors they have fewer problems healing than smaller patients.”
Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, guest stars of the first episode of “I caught a crab”
The making of I caught a Crabmade possible thanks to the support of Bianca Garavaglia Foundation and Mediafriendsis one of the initiatives that the Youth Project promotes to help patients preserve their identity and vitality despite the disease. “
I Got a Crab debuts on November 18th, in the late evening, on La 5, digital terrestrial channel 30, with an episode of the series enriched by extraordinary participation of Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, which will be shown again the following day, at 5.00 pm, on Cine34. All seven stories, which feature 25 young people aged between 15 and 24, will be visible on Mediaset Infinity. An awareness campaign on the topic of young cancer patients which will last a year and which will be available for this entire period of time, free of charge, on Mediaset Infinity, in a section enriched with extra content, always created by the protagonists. Also the program of Italia 1 The Hyenasthrough its social channels, will be an active part in supporting the Youth Project of the National Cancer Institute of Milan, which represents a model of excellence in adolescent oncology, considering care as a path that goes beyond clinical treatment and including tools innovative to improve quality of life and promote resilience.
