Childhood Cancer Survivorship: A Qualitative Description of Parental Experiences with Survivorship Care Plans

Abstract

Advancements to treatment and supportive care strategies for childhood cancer have resulted in a shift to managing late effects in the latter stages of the cancer trajectory. Survivorship care plans are communication tools produced by healthcare providers to facilitate and foster an informed and coordinated model of healthcare delivery for survivors and their families. This qualitative descriptive study explored the experiences parents of childhood cancer survivors have had with survivorship care plans. The experiences of eight parents were sought through semi-structured interviews and their views were combined with scholarly elements to expand on the current knowledge of survivorship care in pediatric oncology. Through the iterative process of qualitative content analysis three major themes were identified; Survivorship Care Plan an Important Source of Information, Reliance on Staff, and Varying Emotions of Cancer Survivorship. These results offer a unique perspective on childhood cancer survivorship. Implications for survivorship care and recommendations for future research are discussed.