Kids Love TALC
A new program at Hasbro Children’s Hospital is a hit with kids—and is pleasing parents, too. Through the Adolescent Leadership Council, or TALC, high school students with chronic illnesses are talking with peers, receiving the support of mentors and unlocking their creativity through art. TALC meets every month, bringing together the high school students and Brown University mentors who are also chronically ill with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease or sickle cell disease.
Gary Maslow, MD, and Wendy Froehlich, MD, both triple-board residents at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, founded TALC in 2005. TALC is a forum for teens to talk about the physical and emotional issues that arise from their illnesses. Though the diseases may differ, the members find a connection through shared experiences. Within a safe place, teenagers discuss a wide range of topics, including doctors and hospitals, friends and family, and transitions into college or the workforce.
"A condition or illness is a part of you," says Maslow. "The degree to which you accept that and are able to work with your illness, as opposed to constantly fighting it, can really be important in learning to live your life, not the life that the illness is making you live."
In addition to using words as a means of expression, TALC uses creative thinking and artwork. For example, the TALC members, under the mentorship of professional artist John Jacobsen, created an awe-inspiring mural that symbolizes the struggles they face as individuals with chronic illnesses. The mural was unveiled last March at a local art gallery.
“You meet these kids, and they have completed this art project…they are just so impressive," Maslow says. "They are so talented and strong."
TALC and the mural project are funded by the Rhode Island Department of Health, with support from Hasbro Children’s Hospital and the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University. In addition to the teen/mentor group, TALC has a parent council comprised of parents of TALC teens.
If you are or someone you know is a high school student with a chronic illness and interested in becoming a member of TALC, please call Gary Maslow, MD, at 401-954-2789 or e-mail him.
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