The feasibility of offering a family level intervention to parents of children with cancer

The purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility of conducting a family level intervention study in a clinical setting: (a) by evaluating nurses' and families' attitude towards the intervention and (b) assess the impact of the intervention on parents' wellbeing, coping behaviour, hardiness and adaptation. The research is descriptive-longitudinal and took place at the Children's Hospital of the Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland. Eight nurses working at the Children's Hospital and 10 families of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer participated in the study. Eligible families, nurse administrator and clinical nurses were invited to participate. The nurses and the families who agreed to participate were asked to answer questionnaires. The main research variables were willingness to participate in the study, number of families accepting the intervention, demographical information, number of nurses believing in the intervention and the effectiveness of the intervention. Majority of the families (83%) were willing to participate in this study and all the nurses (n = 8) indicated positive responses regarding the implementation of the intervention within a clinical setting. Both mothers and fathers scored significantly higher on wellbeing after the intervention than before, but no significant difference was found in coping, hardiness or adaptation. Offering an educational and support intervention in a clinical setting for families of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer can be feasible. Researchers and clinicians may want to enhance the intervention, test it on a bigger sample and with a control group.