An Oncology Education Program: Parents’ perspectives

Abstract

While most children are now surviving a diagnosis of cancer, a number of psychosocial impacts of the disease are becoming increasingly apparent, including poorer schooling outcomes. Given that schooling is such an integral context for child development and an important component of overall adjustment to illness, a number of researchers have highlighted the need for intervention. However, the development of schooling interventions for children with cancer is arguably limited by a lack of research that investigates the impact of cancer upon school adjustment and, importantly, the modifiable factors that may influence this process. This review proposes a theoretical model of school adjustment that offers a framework for exploring these gaps, and in particular, for examining potentially modifiable system-level factors. Schooling interventions that have been documented in the literature will be discussed in relation to these system-level factors. Findings of this review have direct implications for the future development of schooling interventions for children with cancer that are evidence-based.