Expectations for function and independence by childhood brain tumors survivors and their mothers

Life Experience of Chinese Pediatric Medulloblastoma Survivors: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: With the improvement of technology and the advancement of medical treatment in recent decades, more and more pediatric medulloblastoma survivors reintegrate to the community. This study aimed to examine the experiences of pediatric medulloblastoma survivors. METHODS: A qualitative research was conducted. Twenty Chinese pediatric medulloblastoma survivors were interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Colaizzi's analysis method was used to analyze data. RESULTS: There were 4 themes in this study: physical health issues, community reintegration challenges, overcoming psychological pressure, and multiple unmet needs. CONCLUSION: Pediatric medulloblastoma survivors face challenges in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of their health, along with multiple unmet healthcare needs. Nurses should comprehensively assess the survivor's needs from admission, plan for discharge, and provide regular follow-up care after discharge. Furthermore, nurses should collaborate with caregivers, clinicians, and schoolteachers to develop programs aimed at enhancing the quality of life for survivors. It is also important to explore the survival experiences of individuals in different regions.

Negotiating expectations for therapy between mothers and service providers: a narrative analysis

PURPOSE

To use stories about mothers and service providers negotiating expectations for therapy to illuminate processes contributing to power differences within partnerships.

METHODS

This narrative study presented stories from three mothers and three service providers. Stories were co-constructed between participants and researchers and analyzed using narrative analysis. Building on An and Palisano's (2014) Model of Family-Professional Collaboration, stories were organized into the stages of goal setting, planning, and doing therapy.

RESULTS

Each story illuminated a process unique to that story that can redistribute power between mothers, service providers, and therapy environments while negotiating expectations: protecting sacred issues, facilitating knowledge exposure, filling voids/vacuums, recognizing cultural conditioning, re-discovering eclipsed roles, and connecting relay teams. We propose including three additional strategies to An and Palisano's model to increase the readiness of mothers and service providers to negotiate expectations for therapy and collaborate fully as the model intends: 1) exploring power-sharing conversations; 2) looking for social context clues; and 3) adopting a humility stance.

CONCLUSION

Information on the six illuminated processes can help structure a client story grounded in optimal negotiation of expectations and equal partnerships.Implications for RehabilitationKnowledge of diverse stories about mothers and service providers negotiating expectations for therapy can be a resource to guide actions in related situations.Leaving the topic of expectations for therapy implicit or unchallenged increases the risks that negotiations remain unbalanced and unproductive.Service providers may enhance collaboration with mothers in paediatric rehabilitation by exploring power-sharing conversations, looking for social context clues, and adopting a humility stance.

I could have used a lot more help than I had: A qualitative systematic review and synthesis of families' experiences of paediatric brain tumour and schooling

BACKGROUND

Brain tumours are the most common and fatal of all solid tumours for children and adolescents. The effects of the tumour and treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery) results in significant disruptions to childhood development and large amounts of missed schooling. Among other challenges for families, this produces obstacles for children and adolescents to achieve and maintain academic performance and experience positive schooling encounters.

AIMS

We thus aimed to systematically identify and synthesize qualitative evidence on how families experience paediatric brain tumour from diagnosis and beyond with regards to their schooling and education to identify gaps in service delivery, research, and policy.

METHODS

A protocol for this review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020177165). Searches were conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, and Web of Science, and yielded 22 eligible papers (representing 17 studies). Data were extracted into NVivo12 and analysed by qualitative description.

RESULTS

We formed the following domain summaries: academic (perceived failure to keep up with peers and finding success where one could, the importance of encouragement for diagnosed children), social (the importance of friendships and the harm of bullying), and support (the defining factor in overall return-to-school experience, often not enough received from educational professionals and clinicians). Our review highlights the need for more comprehensive, individualized, and integrated support for diagnosed children to return to educational institutions, and for the need to address their social experiences, particularly with regards to bullying, potentially through a school-wide social and emotional learning approach.

CONCLUSION

Funding support, evidence-based guidelines, staff skill development, and clear communication structures across families, health care facilities, schools, and educational departments are essential to achieving this.

Families' experiences of child and adolescent brain tumor: A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research

OBJECTIVES

Brain tumors are the most common and fatal of all solid tumors for children and adolescents; those who survive live with long-term physical and emotional consequences, as do their families. We aimed to synthesize relevant qualitative evidence on families' experiences and psychosocial service needs across the lifespan to identify gaps in care delivery and research.

METHODS

Searches were conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, and Web of Science. Identified papers were assessed with the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool. Data were extracted into NVivo12 and analyzed by qualitative description and, where appropriate, thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The search yielded 628 papers, of which 40 (33 studies) were eligible (6%). Although the methodological quality of the papers was low, we identified concerns that were consistently reported over time and from different perspectives. Individual family members had varying psychosocial needs to be addressed within healthcare, schooling, and public policy. These include for survivor's mental health (particularly for body image), and to the disproportionate biopsychosocial burden faced by mother-caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

Addressing the biological aspects of brain tumor cannot be our only focus. We have an obligation to provide services that meet the needs of families across diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, palliative care, and bereavement.

Cytokines in Pediatric Pilocytic Astrocytomas: A Clinico-Pathological Study

Pilocytic astrocytomas (PCA) are WHO Grade I tumors with a favorable prognosis. Surgical resection is usually curative. Nonetheless, progressive and/or metastatic disease occurs in 20% of patients. For these patients, treatment options are limited. The role of the immune system in PCA has not previously been reported. We hypothesize that the circulating cytokines contribute to tumorigenicity in PCA. This is an exploratory study with a focus on the identification of circulating cerebrospinal (CSF) cytokines associated with PCA. The primary objective is to demonstrate that CSF cytokines will be differentially expressed in the subset of PCAs that are difficult to treat in comparison to their surgically amendable counterparts. This is a single-institution, retrospective study of prospectively collected data. Patients with a confirmed histological diagnosis of PCA who have simultaneous intraoperative CSF sampling are included. Cerebrospinal fluid samples are subjected to multiplex cytokine profiling. Patient-derived PCA lines from selected patients in the same study cohort are cultured. Their cell culture supernatants are collected and interrogated using the sample multiplex platform as the CSF. A total of 8 patients are recruited. There were two patients with surgically difficult tumors associated with leptomeningeal involvement. Multiplex profiling of the cohort’s CSF samples showed elevated expressions of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-12p70, IL-1β, IL-4, and TNF-α in these two patients in comparison to the remaining cohort. Next, primary cell lines derived from the same PCA patients demonstrated a similar trend of differential cytokine expression in their cell culture supernatant in vitro. Although our findings are preliminary at this stage, this is the first study in pediatric PCAs that show cytokine expression differences between the two groups of PCA with different clinical behaviors.

A Primer on Mixed Methods for Pediatric Researchers

OBJECTIVE

To provide a primer on conducting and analyzing mixed methods research studies, and to provide guidance on the write-up of mixed methods research.

METHODS

A question and answer format is used to provide an overview of mixed methods research study designs, tasks and considerations related to conducting and analyzing mixed methods studies, and recommendations for the write-up of results for mixed methods studies.

RESULTS

Individuals who conduct mixed methods research are encouraged to delineate the quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods features of the research and how these features fit with the overall study questions. Research teams will benefit from including individuals with expertise in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research. Data integration should be a central component to the analysis and write-up of mixed methods research.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing the use of mixed methods research in the field of pediatric psychology will contribute to advances in observational studies with children and families, intervention development and evaluation, and creation of new tools and assessments that aim to optimize child and family health outcomes.

Meaning Making and Religious Engagement Among Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors and Their Caregivers

PURPOSE

To describe how adolescent and young adult survivors and their mother-caregivers ascribe meaning to their post-brain tumor survivorship experience, with a focus on sense making and benefit findings and intersections with religious engagement.

PARTICIPANTS & SETTING

Adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors and their families, living in their community settings.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH

Secondary analysis of simultaneous and separate individual, semistructured interviews of the 40 matched dyads (80 total interviews) occurred using conventional content analysis across and within dyads. Meaning is interpreted through narrative profiles of expectations for function and independence.

FINDINGS

Participants made sense of the brain tumor diagnosis by finding benefits and nonbenefits unique to their experiences. Meaning was framed in either nonreligious or religious terms.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Acknowledging positive meaning alongside negative or neutral meaning could enhance interactions with survivors, caregivers, and their families. Exploring the meaning of their experiences may help them to reconstruct meaning and reframe post-tumor realities through being heard and validated.

Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors: Life After Treatment in Their Own Words

BACKGROUND

To date, there are few studies that examine the perspectives of older survivors of childhood brain tumors who are living with their families in terms of their sense of self and their role in their families.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to describe how adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors describe their health-related quality of life, that is, their physical, emotional, and social functioning.

METHODS

This qualitative descriptive study included a purposive sample of 41 adolescent and young adult survivors of a childhood brain tumor who live with their families. Home interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview guide. Directed content analytic techniques were used to analyze data using health-related quality of life as a framework.

RESULTS

This group of brain tumor survivors described their everyday lives in terms of their physical health, neurocognitive functioning, emotional health, social functioning, and self-care abilities. Overall, survivors struggle for normalcy in the face of changed functioning due to their cancer and the (late) effects of their treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Neurocognitive issues seemed most compelling in the narratives. The importance of families went beyond the resources, structure, and support for functioning. Their families provided the recognition that they were important beings and their existence mattered to someone.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

The value and complexity of care coordination were highlighted by the multifaceted needs of the survivors. Advocacy for appropriate and timely educational, vocational, and social support is critical as part of comprehensive cancer survivorship care.

Assessing Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors Among Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors and Their Mothers During Sociobehavioral Research

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

To describe the development and feasibility of a protocol for nonpsychiatric subspecialty research staff members to screen research participants who endorse suicidal ideations or behaviors during data collection
.

DESIGN

Descriptive protocol development.
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SETTING

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.
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SAMPLE

186 mother caregivers and 134 adolescent or young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors, with the protocol implemented for 5 caregivers and 11 survivors.

METHODS

During telephone- and home-based interviews, the interviewer assessed the participant using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS).

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES

Expressed suicidal ideation or behavior
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FINDINGS

Implementation of the C-SSRS by nonpsychiatric subspecialty staff members was feasible and valid. Interviewers' conclusions based on this instrument matched those of the mental health professional who followed up with participants. Process notes contained themes about the participants, including anger and sadness in survivors and the physical and emotional demands of the survivor in caregivers. Progress notes for the interviewer included a reiteration of events, whether the assessment was successful, and whether the recommendation of the interviewer was in agreement with that of the mental health professional
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CONCLUSIONS

The protocol based on the C-SSRS was useful and feasible for nonpsychiatric subspecialty staff members to use in the collection of data from survivors of childhood brain tumors and their caregivers.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Survivors of childhood brain tumors and their caregivers may experience psychosocial distress. Nurses, as research assistants or in other roles, can use tools such as the C-SSRS to assist in front-line assessments. 
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Mother-caregiver expectations for function among survivors of childhood brain tumors

PURPOSE

Children diagnosed with brain tumors increasingly survive to adulthood, although they do so with needs often requiring continued parental caregiving. We sought to describe the nature of caregivers' expectations about survivors' function and how expectations connect to ongoing management and decision-making.

METHODS

Forty-five qualitative interviews with mother-caregivers were conducted and coded for themes related to expectations for their adolescent/young adult children living post-childhood brain tumors.

RESULTS

Five main themes emerged as integral to mother-caregiver expectations: realizing a difference in the survivor, noticing limitations to independence in the survivor, memories of learning about clinical prognoses as understood from consent meetings and education, managing these realizations, and acknowledging unresolved challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

Caregiver expectations are influenced by both initial clinical interactions and contemporary family dynamics and require individual- and family-specific survivorship planning. As caregiver expectations can influence management behaviors that impact outcomes and possibly independence, implications for clinician-caregiver shared decision-making are substantial.