DOI: 10.14457/tu.the.2022.1061
title: Development of a family-based program for improving family quality of life of family of preschool children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia undergoing chemotherapy

description: Pediatric cancer is an important health concern in Thailand and across the world. The most frequent type of childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), representing approximately 30% of children in Thailand. The highest incidence of childhood ALL occurs in the first two five years of life. Across the trajectory of childhood cancer, childhood health conditions are major life-threatening illnesses not only affected the children's quality of life, but it also impacted the quality of life of their families.The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a family- based program for improving FQOL of families of preschool children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy. This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-method as the research design. The first phase was designed as a qualitative method using in-depth nterviews to identify the effective strategies of family regarding care of preschool children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy. Purposive sampling was employed to select 32 family members of a preschool child were included in this phase. Data were collected via in-depth individual interviewing. Content analysis was used for the qualitative data analysis. The second phase used a quantitative method to evaluate a family- based program for improving FQOL of families of preschool children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy. During this phase, the developed program was implemented and evaluated using a quasi-experimental design, with a two-group, pre- posttest design, in order to examine the FQOL of family before and after implementation. The participants consisted of the family members of a preschool child aged 3-5 years diagnosed with ALL who are related to the caring and chemotherapy treatment process of their child for not less than one month and that were attending the pediatric ward at Phrapokklao Hospital and Rayong Hospital. The sample in this quantitative phase comprised 27 family members of a preschool children with ALL at Phrapokklao Hospital purposive sampling to the experimental group and 27 family members of a preschool children with ALL at Rayong Hospital purposive sampling to the control group. Data collection occurred using the Family quality of life questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, and independent t-test were employed for analyzing the quantitative data.Results: The finding of qualitative phase revealed that the key findings from the in-depth interviews can be classified according to five major themes of strategies: (1) family role, (2) family communication, (3) social support, (4) family relationships and (5) psychological support, and four major themes of needs: (1) Social Support, (2) Emotional Support, (3) Effective family communication, (4) Effective school communication. These major themes were used as guidelines for create interventions that improved the FQOL of preschool children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy. The family-based program was designed for individual families and consisted of six interactive sessions (30-60 min each) conducted in a clinical setting over a period of eight weeks. The result of quantitative phase indicated that the family of preschool children with ALL that participated in the family-based program significantly increased the family quality of life scores. (p &lt;.0001) The family-based program is useful for improving family quality of life in family of preschool children with ALL undergoing chemotherapy. For suggestions, this program can be utilized as a nursing intervention to collaborate with family members and healthcare providers to improving family quality of life. Moreover, healthcare providers and nurses should understand family strengths and resources can assist to assess family members needs and implement tailored support