THRIVE: Support interventions for childhood cancer

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The ‘THRIVE’ Project: Exploring support interventions for children diagnosed with cancer and their families

• IRAS ID

  347795

• Contact name

  Katherine Knighting

• Contact email

  knightk@edgehill.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Edge Hill University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 3 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Childhood cancer has an impact on the whole family including siblings (Sulkers et al., 2015). There are approximately 475 new cases of childhood cancer each year and 4,000 children and young people who are living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis across the North West of England and North Wales (The Joshua Tree 2022). The support these families are offered to help them cope during and after treatment is varied and often described as lacking. Working with a Family Advisory Board, parent co-investigator, and experienced steering group, we will use a three phase multi-method realist-informed approach to identify what support interventions children, young people and their families are offered, and which work best, for whom, how, and why during and after cancer treatment. Further detail of what each phase will involve is detailed in this application and in the attached proposal.

  Phase 1: a rapid, realist scoping review
  Phase 2: data collection with children, young people, adult family members and professionals which involves interviews with children and young people (5-25years) using an activity booklet and a ‘toolkit’ of creative methods (detailed in the research protocol)
  Phase 3: Participatory workshops with children, young people, adult family members and professionals

  We will recruit children/young people and their families at three key timepoints to capture a range of different support needs:
  1)on treatment (midpoint onwards so not close to diagnosis),
  2)post-treatment
  3)Bereaved (minimum of 3 months from death as used in previous studies)

  An overview of the support interventions identified, logic models, and programme theories, along with lay summaries and peer reviewed outputs will be publicly available and disseminated via all available networks to inform funding, policy and service delivery decisions across health, social care and third sector services.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  24/EM/0222

• Date of REC Opinion

  19 Nov 2024

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion