Supporting children facing a parent's cancer diagnosis: a systematic review of children's psychosocial needs and existing interventions

Abstract

This review aimed to (1) summarise the psychosocial needs of children/adolescents (0-18 years) with a parent with cancer across the illness trajectory (diagnosis to bereavement) and (2) evaluate existing interventions for this population. Medline, CINAHL, PsychInfo, EMBASE and Social Work Abstracts were systematically searched for articles published from 1985 to 2015. Of 98 full text articles retrieved, 12 reported on children's psychosocial needs, and 12 intervention studies were identified. Each article was appraised in accordance with the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Three factors emerged as critical to consider in future intervention development: (1) Children need age-appropriate information about their parent's cancer; (2) Children require support communicating with parents, family members and health professionals and (3) Children need an environment where they feel comfortable sharing positive/negative emotions and can have their experiences normalised among peers. All intervention studies reported at least one positive outcome, however, only five reported significant improvements in child/family functioning based on validated quantitative measure/s. Variability in study design and quality, combined with considerable heterogeneity in intervention characteristics and outcome variables limited the conclusions, which could be drawn. Therefore, further carefully designed and scientifically evaluated interventions for children facing a parent's cancer diagnosis are clearly warranted.

Double bereavement, mental health consequences and support needs of children and young adults—When a divorced parent dies

“…We recommend implementation of “The Double Bereavement Model of Factors Influencing Mental Health” presented in Figure for children and young adults because it provides new guidance for health professionals to improve the targeted implementation of divorced family‐centred bereavement care. It is known that positive and supportive parenting enhances children's mental health and ability to cope with the parental loss (Ellis et al, ; Howell et al, ; Kwok et al, ; Werner‐Lin et al, ). Nurses and professionals should consider the family structure of critically ill patients and how the family dynamics will affect the children when a parent dies (Marcussen, Hounsgaard, Bruun, et al, ; Russell et al, ).…”

“…Each phase of interventions includes knowledge and actions. The family structure and family functioning should also be considered, when children and young adults attend support groups pre‐ and postparental death to ensure targeted support is achieved (Ellis et al, ; Lundberg et al, ; Thastum et al, ). Children and young adults often want to be involved when a divorced parent dies of cancer, but they require support to enable them to cope flexibly while navigating an uncertain future (Kari E. Bugge et al, ; Werner‐Lin et al, ).…”

Maternal breast cancer and communicating with children: A qualitative exploration of what resources mothers want and what health professionals provide

“…Research exploring communication with children about a parental cancer diagnosis has focused on the experiences of parents with advanced cancers (Forrest, Plumb, Ziebland, & Stein, ; Kennedy & Lloyd‐Williams, ; Park et al, ), parents with adolescent children (Huizinga, Visser, van der Graaf, Hoekstra, & Hoekstra‐Weebers, ) and on children's experiences and needs (Ellis, Wakefield, Antill, Burns, & Patterson, ; Furlong, ; Thastum, Johansen, Gubba, Olesen, & Romer, ). There has been little research on parents’ communication with younger children (Furlong, ) or the needs of parents with younger children when the parent is diagnosed with cancer treated with curative intent.…”

Parental cancer: Characteristics of users of child‐centred counselling versus individual psycho‐oncological treatment

“…Tailored support can help cancer patients during the course of the disease to reduce emotional distress and to enhance their QoL . Up to today, several interventions have been developed for families affected by parental cancer . Still, in a population‐based study, only 9% of included cancer survivors with children ≤21 years used any kind of family‐centred support, whereas 73% expressed the need.…”