Captain Chemo and Mr Wiggly: Patient Information for Children with Cancer in the Late Twentieth Century

Summary

This article is concerned with patient information as a historical resource, children as patients and agents, and representations of cancer since the 1960s. It outlines the nature of patient information and argues that these sources offer a window on historical developments in patient experience and doctor–patient encounters. The article then recounts two interconnected histories—the emergence of childhood cancer as a major problem, and the use of cartoon booklets to secure the psychological welfare of sick children. Explanation of chemotherapy serves as an example of changes in mechanisms through which information was provided and in conceptualisations of the needs of sick children. It is argued that these shifts may have been the consequence, and were certainly the companion, of a change in the age of children whose needs were being considered. The article also suggests that children's attempts to resist and recast the meaning of illness have so far been marginal to the historical study of child health. The contribution ends by seeking to demonstrate that children's contributions to cultural dialogues about the meaning of illness and patienthood can be recovered through listening to patient materials.

patient information, children, cancer, chemotherapy, welfare, comics