Background: Childhood cancer affects the entire family. Siblings experience similar stress to that of the ill child, including anger, depression, jealousy, guilt, and social isolation. School reentry programs are shown to be positive interventions for patients, it is hypothesized that similar outcomes exist for siblings.
Objective: To examine the feasibility of studying the impact of the Ontario Oncology Nurse School Visitation Program on the well-being and school adjustment of siblings of pediatric cancer patients.
Methods: Fourteen sibling participants and parents completed a semistructured interview and the PedsQL® questionnaire before and after a nurse school visit. School attendance was also compared and data were collected for logistics of study procedures.
Results: The mode of data collection was agreeable and easy to plan and execute. School attendance showed a reduction of days missed; there was no significant impact on PedsQL results but the interviews yielded positive feedback.
Conclusions: The outlook for siblings improves with the support of family members and health care professionals. This pilot study provides hypotheses and design for future research.
Keywords: childhood cancer; pediatric oncology; psychosocial; siblings; support.