An important part of every child's life is their social development, forming friendships with peers, and in general, just having fun being a kid. However, when children are diagnosed with cancer or a serious blood disorder, they are often isolated from their friends and playtime is replaced with treatment time in the hospital.
Fortunately, Jamie Gibson is here to help. Jamie grew up in Pickens, South Carolina, and received her undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Clemson University and her MS degree in Child Life from the University of Alabama, as well as a M.Ed. in Community Mental Health Counseling from Clemson University.
In 2002, Jamie began her career at the Greenville Children's Hospital as a Certified Child Life Specialist on the school age and adolescent floor working with the pediatric hematology/oncology patients as well as general pediatric patients. In April 2004, Jamie moved to the BI-LO Charities Children's Cancer Center where she could spend more time with the patients and families, as well as help with the extensive coping required by their healthcare experience. As a Certified Child Life Specialist, Jamie helps children, adolescents, and young adults cope with their healthcare experience through medical preparation, age-appropriate education, distraction, play, and psychosocial support. She also provides observational and structured developmental assessments, as well as assessment of a patient or family member's ability to cope.
In order to help foster the childrens' social development, Jamie provides support groups for pre-teen and teen patients and plans fun outings, like the fall carnival, Carowinds, and Clemson football visits. Jamie notes that these efforts, which help patients gain peer support, are made possible by Clement's Kindness. "These outings sound like just a fun day, but they really offer families the chance to do something together without a financial burden and provide them with an opportunity to share dialogue about their individual experiences. Families share stories and usually end up exchanging contact information to remain a source of support for each other after the event," said Jamie.
Another important part of Jamie's job is planning and implementing Camp Courage. Clement's Kindness has been instrumental in providing a new home for Camp Courage, that includes a state-of- the-art, fully handicapped accessible facility. As a result of Clement's Kindness support, Jamie is able to plan sibling weekends at the camp, two full weeks of camp for patients, ages 5-18, and future programs such as a bereavement weekend and family weekend.
"Clement's Kindness has been at the heart of providing psychosocial care for our patients and their families. Being able to have Clement's Kindness as a resource to help a struggling family with an electric bill or to give a senior in high school the opportunity to attend his prom is equal to the medical care that is provided to our patients and families daily. It is in these moments that we are absolutely sure of how much of an impact Clement's Kindness and its contributors are making on the lives of those that they may never have the opportunity to meet," added Jamie.
We would also like to thank Jamie for her tireless dedication and efforts, as she truly makes an important difference for every patient and family that she serves and supports.