Aim and background: To examine the feasibility of in-hospital co-admitted classmates as ambassadors to school-aged children during cancer treatment initiated at diagnosis. Overall, the nationwide intervention study RESPECT aims to rehabilitate school-aged children with cancer socially, academically, and physically and diminish their treatment-induced isolation.
Intervention: 1. A 60-minutes school class education on cancer, 2. Alternating in-hospital co-admission of two ambassadors, from 9 am to 3 pm, every 14 in-hospital stays, 3. In-hospital physical activity program (reported elsewhere).
Methods: Feasibility: participation, acceptability, frequency, and duration of the first 120 consecutively newly diagnosed children with cancer (6-18 years). Period: January 2013 – Marts 2022.
Results: Preliminary results: Participation rate: 120 of 128 eligible children (94%). Median time from diagnosis to inclusion: 5 days, 80% interval [1-22]. Median time from inclusion to school education on cancer: 10 days, 80% interval [3-27]. Median ambassador application per child: 8 classmates, 80% interval [3-14]. Median time from education to ambassador assignment: 12 days, 80% interval [5-21]. Median time from ambassador assignment to first ambassador co-admission: 5 days, 80% interval [1-22] Median one-way ambassador travel distance: 38 km, 80% interval [5,3-176]. Median number of days with ambassador co-admissions per child: 10, 80% interval [2-27]. The total number of stays with co-admissions:1663, and the total number of in-patient stays:12696. In total, 73,6% of the patients meet the aim of 1 ambassador co-admission per 14 in-hospital stays. On a scale from 1 (best) to 10 (worst possible), <90 % of the children and the ambassadors rated the co-admission from 1-3. Challenges are related to ambassador selection, practical organization, travel distance, in-hospital cultural acceptability, and the child’s well-being.
Conclusion: Including healthy classmates as ambassadors in children with cancer’s in-hospital treatment is feasible and acceptable. Including classmates as in-hospital psychosocial support provides a novel approach to cancer rehabilitation of school-aged children.