Conectar
To explore how classmate ‘ambassadors’ experienced and engaged in social interaction while visiting a hospitalised peer undergoing cancer treatment.
A phenomenological-hermeneutic inspired exploratory study.
Using on-the-go semi-structured interviews and participant observations from January to December 2023 in Denmark, we included 27 school-aged ambassadors aged 6–18 years old; 18 participated in pre- and post-visit interviews, while all 27 took part in observations during 19 visits. Van Manen's phenomenological-hermeneutic approach guided thematic analysis.
Six themes emerged: (1) visiting the hospital, (2) being supportive, (3) aligning expectations, (4) being unsure, (5) safeguarding the relationship and (6) leaving the hospital. Ambassadors were eager to visit, seeking to be good friends by offering social, emotional and physical support. They were mindful of the information shared to prevent the hospitalised children from feeling excluded. Social interactions often involved allowing the hospitalised children to take on decision-making roles, recognising their well-being as a priority.
Ambassadors found hospital visits meaningful as they wanted to make a difference and sought to support their hospitalised peers. Their role was shaped by their understanding of friendship and the disease trajectory. Social interactions were largely conflict-free due to the pre-visit alignment of expectations.
Classmates found visits meaningful and wished to make a difference. Healthcare professionals should facilitate visits to strengthen social connections between the hospitalised child and their surroundings as a part of family-centred care within paediatric oncology.
Problem: Cancer treatment often causes social disruption for children with cancer, making the transition to everyday life more difficult post-treatment.
Classmates were eager to visit hospitalised peers, demonstrating awareness of cancer and a desire to support them.
Facilitating classmate visits may enhance classmates' understanding of cancer and aid hospitalised children's reintegration into everyday life.
The COREQ checklist was used.
Ambassadors contributed to designing the interview guides.
Enhances knowledge of supporting social relationships between hospitalised children and their classmates during cancer treatment. However, the RESPECT study is rooted in the Danish cultural context, where it is common to attend local volunteer activities after school. Although getting diagnosed with a life-threatening illness such as cancer may be difficult to talk about with peers and even a taboo in some countries, we do expect that interventions with structured possibilities for social interactions are an important step towards normalisation of communicating about childhood cancer.
Breast cancer is common and women requiring mastectomy will be offered a breast reconstruction if they are surgically suitable candidate. Breast reconstruction can be performed at the same time as the mastectomy (immediate) or delayed to a second operation after cancer treatments. The reconstruction can either use the patients’ own tissue to make the breast (autologous) or use a prosthesis to make the breast in the form of a fixed or expandable volume implant (implant-based breast reconstruction, IBBR). Immediate breast reconstruction on top of the chest wall muscles (prepectoral) is performed worldwide. This operation involves the use of a synthetic or biological mesh placed around the implant under the skin. Increasingly, surgeons are performing this technique without the use of mesh. Both techniques, with and without mesh, have not been compared in a head-to-head randomised controlled trial (RCT); therefore, surgeons and patients do not have high quality data to guide their decision making in this area.
UK-based pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled feasibility trial. The primary aim is to determine the feasibility of a definitive RCT comparing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of no-mesh versus mesh-assisted prepectoral breast reconstruction. Secondary objectives will explore patient understanding of mesh and willingness to be randomised within an RCT; determine if it is possible to collect data to inform a future economic analysis on the use of mesh in breast reconstruction and determine the feasibility of measuring breast biomechanics pre-surgery and post breast reconstruction surgery. Total number of patients to be included: 40 (20 per arm).
This study will be conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval has been obtained. Ethics Ref: 23/SC/0302; IRAS Project ID: 301 423. The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, independent of the results, following the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials standards for RCTs.
Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a broad range of diseases associated with abnormalities/degeneration of retinal cells. We aimed to identify the top 10 Australian research priorities for IRDs to ultimately facilitate more meaningful and potentially cost-effective research.
We conducted a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership that involved two Australian-wide surveys and online workshops.
Australia-wide.
Individuals aged 16 years or older were eligible to participate if they had an IRD, were caregivers of an individual with an IRD or were health professionals providing care to this community.
In Survey 1, we gathered participants’ unanswered questions about IRDs. We grouped these into summary questions and undertook a literature review to verify if they were truly unanswered (ie, evidence uncertainties). In Survey 2, participants voted for the uncertainties that they considered a priority. Top-ranked uncertainties progressed for discussion and final prioritisation in two workshops.
In Survey 1, we collected 223 questions from 69 participants. We grouped these into 42 summary questions and confirmed 41 as evidence uncertainties. In Survey 2, 151 participants voted, with the 16 uncertainties progressing to final prioritisation. The top 10 priorities, set by the 24 workshop participants, represented (1) treatment/cure; (2) symptoms and disease progression; (3) psychosocial well-being and (4) health service delivery. The #1 priority was for treatment to prevent, slow down or stop vision loss, followed by the #2 priority to address the psychological impact of having an IRD.
The top 10 research priorities highlight the need for IRD research that takes a whole-person, systems approach. Collaborations to progress priorities will accelerate the translation of research into real-world benefits.
FreshRSS 