Family bonding as a result of the family talk intervention in pediatric oncology: Siblings' experiences.

Publisher: John Wiley Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101186624 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1545-5017 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15455009 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Pediatr Blood Cancer Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley, c 2004-

Neoplasms*/therapy ; Siblings*; Adaptation, Psychological ; Child ; Communication ; Family ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Pilot Projects

Background: Childhood cancer affects the whole family. Illness-related stressors increase the risk for poor family communication, affecting the family's well-being. Siblings describe worry and poor illness-related information. As there are few evaluated family interventions in pediatric oncology, this study aimed to pilot-test a family-centered intervention, the family talk intervention (FTI), in pediatric oncology. This paper examined the feasibility in terms of acceptability from the siblings' perspectives.
Methods: This study derives from a pilot study of 26 families including 37 siblings recruited from one pediatric oncology center. Standard FTI comprises six meetings with the family, led by two interventionists, with the main goal to facilitate family communication on illness-related topics (e.g., prognosis, the invisibility of healthy siblings). This paper focuses on interview and survey data from siblings after participation in FTI. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier NCT03650530).
Results: The siblings, aged 6 to 24 years, stated that the interventionists made the meetings feel like a safe environment and that it was a relief for the siblings to talk. They reported that FTI helped the family talk openly about illness-related topics, which they felt led to increased family understanding and improved relationships. The siblings described that FTI also helped them with their school situation. The majority of the siblings reported that FTI came at the right time and involved an appropriate number of meetings.
Conclusion: According to the siblings, the timing, content, and structure of FTI were appropriate. FTI showed benefits for both the siblings and each family as a whole.
(© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

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Keywords: Beardslee's family intervention; family talk intervention; pediatric oncology; psychosocial support; siblings

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03650530

Date Created: 20211231 Date Completed: 20220502 Latest Revision: 20220531

20240105

10.1002/pbc.29517

34971075