Summary of Services:

Our Classes

Our Instructors

End Of Life Care

Advocacy & Education

Research

Our Classes:
KKC partners with hospitals to provide individual and group instruction in the martial arts for children with serious acute and chronic illness, including cancer and sickle cell disease. Siblings are included in all programs. KKC provides transportation to these classes, as well as martial arts uniforms, at no charge to program participants. During weekly classes, children are taught stretching, breathing exercises, guided imagery/meditation and traditional karate moves. The breathing and guided imagery/meditation techniques have proved to be very effective in reducing a child's anxiety, pain and discomfort during difficult clinic and hospital procedures. Once trained, KKC participants report remarkable success in using these techniques to calm themselves and decrease the trauma associated with their medical treatments. Many of our students, when hospitalized, bring their martial arts uniforms with them as a reminder of their own power and control in facing their disease. Sibling participation in our classes is very important, as it provides an opportunity for a shared positive experience. As parents of very ill children understandably have extreme demands placed on their time and energy, by joining in KKC classes, siblings who might otherwise feel left out are given an opportunity to participate in something special and to gain a sense of partnering in the healing of their brother or sister.
 
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Our Instructors:
KKC instructors are individuals who, in addition to having achieved a high level of mastery in the martial arts, have received additional training and education in issues confronting children and families with a diagnosis of cancer. Topics include pediatric pain palliation, the medical, psychological and emotional aspects of a cancer diagnosis, end-of-life issues, hospice care, and support tools for grieving families. In addition to teaching group and individual classes, KKC instructors also accompany their students to difficult medical procedures to reinforce the techniques taught in class and to assist in focusing the child's energies away from pain. KKC instructors routinely visit their students in the hospital and/or home, providing emotional support and one-on-one training for the child, siblings and parents. If a student requires a bone marrow transplant, KKC instructors will spend hospital time daily working with the child toward recovery.
 
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End Of Life Care:
In those difficult situations where a child is no longer responsive to medical treatment, KKC staff continues to support the child and family with palliative and end-of-life care, while supporting the family's continued hope for recovery. In the event of death, KKC provides extended grief counseling for parents and siblings. Even after the passing of the child with cancer, siblings are encouraged to continue attending classes, allowing them an opportunity to work through the complex emotional challenges associated the passing of their sibling.
 
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Advocacy & Education:
In addition to direct patient services, KKC maintains a political advocacy role on both the federal and state level, advocating for improved palliative care for children with cancer and other serious illness. KKC also provides training for doctors, nurses, child life staff, social workers and parents in our unique methods of pain palliation, relaxation, meditation and empowerment training. The training is provided through medical school lectures, grand rounds lectures, professional seminars and on-site programs.
 
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Research:
KKC is involved in ongoing research to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. Gary Walco, Ph.D, Director of the David Center for Children's Pain and Palliative Care in the Department of Pediatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center and Richard Solomon, MD, Chief of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Michigan have demonstrated the impact of many of the components used in KKC programs directed toward pain relief. Other published studies have also demonstrated that adults who use similar psychological/spiritual-based interventions are more likely to survive cancer and other illnesses than those who do not use these interventions. KKC's research is directed toward evaluating changes in quality-of-life and disease outcome associated with participation in KKC programs. Studies are currently being conducted at Brooklyn Hospital and Children's Hospital of Detroit. Study outcomes will include both self-reports on quality-of-life ,and objectives measures involving morbidity and mortality. We are optimistic that we will be able to demonstrate significant results in our pediatric population. All study participants are provided with informed consent and required to have hospital and parental consent.
 
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