The Department of Social Work is pleased to announce that on Friday, January 19th, 2018, University and Departmental Honors Student Lyndsay Wilcox successfully defended her honors thesis as the capstone project for her honors studies. Her thesis is titled Exploring Coping Skills of Hospitalized Children: A Children's Book Proposal.
The abstract from Lyndsay’s thesis reads as follows: Hospitalization is not typically an easy challenge to face, especially for children. As a whole, hospitals are full of new experiences and can be sometimes scary in addition to the fear that comes with unknown procedures and new staff that pediatric hospital patients experience. Children ages 5-9 years old are in need of effective coping skills that allow them to navigate stressors that come with hospitalization. Along with these children, parents and siblings are also in need of effective coping skills and knowledge of a hospitalized child’s stressors. The implementation of an interactive children’s book would be beneficial to pediatric hospital patients, their siblings and their parents. The knowledge of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, family emotional systems theory, common stressors, and the effectiveness of children’s books on hospitalized children provide a framework for this proposal.
Dr. Peter Fawson served as Chair of Lyndsay's thesis, Dr. Robert Broce served as departmental second reader, and Dr. Denise Brewer from the Department of Family and Child Studies served as external reader.
We congratulate Lyndsay on this major accomplishment, and for the honor that she brings to our department and profession with her effort and dedication to this topic!