Background and Aims

In Ukraine, there is no integrated palliative care for children with cancer, not to say about the psychological support for bereaved families. Seeking to address this deficit, Tabletochki Charity Foundation launched the palliative care program in 2015 and the psychological support of bereaved families project in 2018.

Methods

Psychological support for families in grief is provided in groups supervised by experienced psychologists. Each group consists of 18-20 participants from all over Ukraine. The participants meet bimonthly in Kyiv for one day during 1.5 year (the life cycle of a group). Guided by a psychologist, the parents spend this day together sharing their experience, supporting each other, reflecting on their emotional status and seeking for the meaning of their loss and their lives. The families are encouraged to come in full (both parents and siblings). Siblings have their separate activities with a pediatric/adolescent psychologist and volunteers, combining therapeutic work and entertainment. By the end of the 1.5-year cycle, the group has two memorable events – a 3-day outdoor camp in the Carpathian mountains and a graduation day.

Results

Since 2018, 46 bereaved parents have graduated from the groups and 44 more are under way. This project started with supporting mothers but currently up to 60-70% of participants come in couples. In 2020 we involved a pediatric psychologist to work with siblings which boosted the full family format. The parents who attend or graduated from the groups provide very positive feedback, they advise other bereaved families to join the project, and establish long-lasting friendly relationship with other families.

Conclusions

The bereaved families need psychological support to live through their loss and grief. The group format where the families receive both professional and peer-to-peer support turned out to be very successful. The family format when both parents and siblings come in the meetings is to be encouraged.

Background and Aims

It is hard for all parents to have a correct and empathic communication with their dying child and this process may be influenced by cultural differences. This study aims to assess the difficulties, expectations, and requirements involved in the communication between the dying child and the mother, from the mother’s perspective.

Methods

The qualitative research method was used in this study. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews. Interviews were recorded. The interpretative phenomenological analysis was chosen to explore their content. Coding and analysis were performed on MAXQDA. Nineteen mothers were interviewed in the study. The study was carried out in the Istanbul University, Institute of Oncology, in Turkey.

Results

The interviews with 19 mothers culminated in the identification of themes and subthemes. The main four themes identified were “We did not talk”, “We could not talk”, “We were able to have the talk”, and “the role of healthcare professionals”. In the study, most of the mothers (14) did not want to talk about death with their children and were satisfied with their decision. Three of the mothers stated that they could not, even though they wanted to talk. Only two of the mothers could talk with their children about dying. Mothers stated that they were satisfied with the service provided by their healthcare professionals. Most of the mothers (16 mothers) were satisfied with the doctor explaining the diagnosis and prognosis of the child in detail to the parents, but they did not want it to be told to the child.

Conclusions

Communication with the dying child should not pose a burden on the family. Healthcare professionals should regularly talk with the family and the child and inquire about any questions they may have and respect the family's wish and cultural differences.

Background and Aims

A valid and reliable assessment tool that accurately measures the resilience of children with cancer is vital for appropriately planning interventions that can enhance resilience in such children and foster the development of their coping mechanisms and positive mental well-being. However, no tool with effective psychometric properties is available for assessing resilience in Chinese children with cancer.

This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of a traditional Chinese version of the Resilience Scale for Children (RS-10) and examine its factorial structure via a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Methods

One hundred and eighty-six Hong Kong Chinese children with cancer were invited to participate in the study. The psychometric properties of the traditional Chinese version of the RS-10 were assessed, namely its content validity, convergent and discriminant validity, construct validity, internal consistency and test–retest reliability.

Results

The newly translated traditional Chinese version of the RS-10 demonstrated adequate internal consistency, excellent test–retest reliability, good content validity and appropriate convergent and discriminant validity. The CFA results demonstrated that there was a good fit between the factor structure of the Chinese version of the RS-10 and the observed data, thereby confirming the construct validity of this instrument.

Conclusions

The traditional Chinese version of the RS-10 was found to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing the resilience of Hong Kong Chinese children with cancer. The newly developed traditional Chinese version of the RS-10 is an appropriate clinical research tool for evaluating the effectiveness of nursing interventions in enhancing the resilience of and promoting mental well-being in children with cancer.

Background and Aims

Children receiving cancer related treatment often go through a multitude of changes during treatment. Socialization, self-image, along with coping is effected during these months of treatment. This research focused on the exploration of peer relationships that were formed during active treatment and how those relationships effected resilience in children because such researches are lacking in a non-profit hospital settings, which observe peer relationships of patients in LMIC.

Methods

Qualitative interviews were conducted in the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit of the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IH&HN) of patients undergoing active treatment.

Results

It was found that the interaction between pediatric patients who were undergoing treatment for cancer with other children undergoing the same treatment and experiencing similar conditions was seen to impact their resilience in terms of connection, confidence and control in a positive manner. It was found that their interactions with each other helped promote a feeling of collective experience and provided them with the support they required to undergo daily treatment processes.

Conclusions

Peer relationships have been seen to play a vital role in the functioning and building of resilience of children with pediatric cancer.