A cancer diagnosis not only profoundly impacts individuals but also the very core of their families, reshaping their lives in many ways. However, there is a lack of focus on the well-being and health of the entire family across adult cancer research. This is concerning given that one-third of the Danish population will get a cancer diagnosis before the age of 75, suggesting that many Danes will become caregivers during their lifetime. In addition, identifying vulnerable families is challenging, and the determinant factors for their vulnerability are unknown.
The principal aim of this study is to investigate family health during cancer treatment. This will be done by gathering information on various parameters such as perceived support, quality of life and self-efficacy in patients with cancer and families across the cancer trajectory. Additionally, the study seeks to pinpoint particularly vulnerable families and investigate contributing factors to their vulnerability.
This mixed-methods study follows a sequential explanatory design, combining patient-reported outcomes in a longitudinal, prospective multicentre survey with interviews conducted with a nested sampling of the participants from the survey. A total of 240 patients diagnosed with prostate-, breast-, gastrointestinal- and lymphoma cancer, and designated adult family caregivers will be recruited from six different sites for the survey. Variables such as family health, needs and perceived support, quality of life, self-efficacy, depression, stress and resilience will be explored. Survey data will be collected at baseline, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months. The interviews (n=12–15) will be conducted twice with patients and caregivers jointly: once during the treatment phase (3 months) and once after completion of treatment (12 months). For the survey part, we estimated a sample size with 90% power and 5% significance to detect a minimal clinically important change in the Family Health Scale. Assuming an SD of 2x22 = 31, based on a cross-sectional SD of 22, 44 patients per group were required; to allow for dropout, 60 per group (240 total) were included. Patient and caregiver characteristics will be summarised descriptively. Longitudinal patient-reported outcomes will be analysed with linear mixed regression, separately for patients and caregivers. Changes will be reported as mean differences with 95% CIs and compared with published minimal clinically important differences or, if unavailable, 0.3xbaseline SD. For the qualitative part, thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke is chosen to extract data, identify patterns and analyse data and themes from the interviews. NVivo will be used for coding interview data.
The study will be conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Measures will be taken to ensure confidentiality, data protection and participant safety throughout the study. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06433349. Protocol version 2.0, June 2024.
Adolescents with mental health difficulties often attend acute paediatric services. There is a need to establish how well these services address their difficulties. No systematic review of this issue for adolescents aged 12–17 has been published.
To explore perspectives of healthcare professionals, adolescents and families on the provision of care for adolescents with mental health difficulties in acute paediatric services.
Mixed methods systematic review.
Authors screened published studies using Covidence for eligibility and extracted data. Findings were synthesised using qualitative convergent synthesis. Studies were critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).
Five databases were searched: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase and Web of Science Core Collection from June 2003 to July 2023.
Sixteen studies were included. Eleven studies were good quality, three were low quality and two were fair quality. Healthcare professionals' perspectives consisted of two themes: barriers and facilitators of care. Adolescents' perspectives consisted of two themes: perceptions of care and supportive and unsupportive interpersonal interactions. One study explored families' experiences of care.
Perspectives of care were similar across various countries and suggest that acute paediatric services do not adequately address mental health difficulties. There is a need for more support and education for healthcare professionals, targeted interventions and further research.
The SWiM guideline was used to ensure a transparent and systematic literature review.
No patient or public contribution.
PROSPERO: CRD42023443336 (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=443336)
To explore the International Network for Child and Family Centred Care (INCFCC) members' experiences and views on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the nursing workforce.
On the 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. While some countries adopted a herd immunity approach, others imposed stricter measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. Hospitals in some countries faced an avalanche of extremely sick admissions, whereas others experienced an early surge in cases or were able to control the spread.
Discursive paper.
A web-based survey was e-mailed to 63 INCFCC members from 28 March to 30 April 2022, as an invitation to share their experience concerning the long-term impact of COVID-19 on their role as a nurse educator, clinician or researcher.
Sixteen members responded, and the responses were grouped under the themes stress and anxiety, safe staffing and pay, doing things differently, impact on research, impact on teaching and learning, impact on clinical practice, nursing made visible and lessons for the future.
The INCFCC members provided their views and highlighted the impact on their role in nursing education, administration, research and/or practice. This discussion of international perspectives on the similarities and differences imposed by COVID-19 found that the impact was wide-ranging and prolonged. The overarching theme revealed the resilience of the participating members in the face of COVID-19.
This study highlights the importance of all areas of nursing, be it in academia or in clinical practice, to work together to learn from the present and to plan for the future. Future work should focus on supporting organizational and personal resiliency and effective interventions to support the nursing workforce both during a disaster and in the recovery phase. Nursing workforce resilience in the face of COVID-19.