Support Service

MAHAK’s support services department includes sections of social work, psychology, information and statistics.

MAHAK’s support services department is one of the departments in direct communication with cancer-stricken children and their families. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, all members of the family are affected and therefore, they need comprehensive financial, welfare and social support which will be provided through mutual collaboration of this department with the medical team.

The goal of support services department is to expand its comprehensive supports all over the country considering equity and integration for all children suffering from cancer. Hence, the families can solely concentrate on their child’s treatment through receiving welfare, financial and psychological services. On the other and, children can pass their treatment days with more hope for the future and their quality of life.

Supporting the needs of families who have got a child with cancer and refer to MAHAK has become a major concern of the organization since the very outset of its establishment. Support services are provided in line with the mission of MAHAK and deem to lessen suffering of the family. Support are provided through the following sections:

The services provided by this department are as follows:

• – Social Work – Hospitals in Tehran City
• – Social Work – Hospital in Other Provinces
• – Psychology
• – Information and Statistics

• Links:

Read More about Social Work Services

Read More about Sycho-Social Services

Read More about Welfare Services

Social Work

Diagnosing cancer for a child affects every family in a special way, but all these families have one point in common, and that is undoubtedly the stress and tension that the child and the family will experience. Reducing this stress is the most important part of a social worker’s activity in cancer treatment process.

MAHAK’s oncology social workers have passed various courses in the field of psycho-social evaluation including individual and family counseling, educational interventions for patient and the family as well as distribution of social resources to increase their quality of life.

The oncology social workers play the role of facilitator between medical team, the patients and their families and appropriately plan for provision of psycho-social services, access to social resources, crisis interventions, emotional and financial support as well as insurance services to them.

Psychology

MAHAK’s psychology unit is the subset of support services department which is responsible for accompanying the child and family from the moment of diagnosing cancer to the end of treatment process in order to preserve their quality of life. To fulfil this responsibility, the specialists in this section provide individual counseling, parenting, group therapy, individual and group play therapy, pre-bereavement counseling, etc. for children and their families. These services are offered with the aim to change their lifestyle adapted to their situation, to control their situational distress and to reduce their mental pressure resulting from their child’s illness.

Before 2019 pandemic, psychologists provided services in person at MAHAK Hospital as well as some other hospitals in Tehran city. As of pandemic and due to the increase in the level of social and economic anxiety, the need of families for receiving psycho-social services also increased. Taking into account its specialized tasks as well as the pandemic restrictions and circumstances, psychology unit tried to expand its services remotely through phone.

The mentioned services are also offered in the other cities of Iran at the public and university hospital with pediatric hematology-oncology ward. These cities are included Kashan, Zanjan, Urmia, Zahedan, Ahwaz, Kerman, Rasht, Babol, Sari, Gorgan, Shiraz, Shahrekord, Khorramabad, Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Hamedan, Sanandaj, Bandar abbas, Kermanshah, Yazd, Babolsar, Isfahan, Arak, Mashhad, Yasuj, Tabriz, Ardebil, and Semnan.

Information and Statistics