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[Implementation of a Pilot Project Supporting Parents Suffering from Cancer with Underage Children]
Lea Krüger1, Jens Panse1,2, Jessica Hugot3
1Klinik für Hämatologie, Onkologie, Hämostaseologie und Stammzelltransplantation, Medizinische Fakultät, Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Insights
Families with a parent battling cancer need significant organizational support. The Brückenschlag pilot project successfully connected these families to vital services, improving access to care and reducing stress.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Healthcare Management
- Family Support Services
Background:
- Families with a parent diagnosed with cancer face substantial emotional and organizational challenges.
- Underaged children are particularly affected by parental illness and the resulting family stress.
- Existing support systems often lack awareness and coordination, hindering access for affected families.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the implementation of the Brückenschlag pilot project, designed to improve access to social and logistic support for families with a cancer-affected parent.
- To assess the project's effectiveness in reducing stress on family members using Andersen's healthcare utilization model.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-method approach combining quantitative secondary analysis of routine data (n=171 families) and qualitative semi-structured expert surveys (n=10).
- Data collection spanned from September 2014 to November 2017.
- Analysis focused on healthcare utilization patterns and perceived support needs.
Main Results:
- 133 out of 171 families utilized the Brückenschlag services, primarily for organizational support.
- Psycho-oncologists and hospital social services were key initiators of contact (59.2%).
- Initiation of contact by patients or psycho-oncologists led to significantly more frequent guidance establishment (p=0.047).
- Qualitative findings revealed a lack of awareness and coordination of existing services, and insufficient family resources to access them.
- Brückenschlag improved networking and provided a crucial navigating function for families.
Conclusions:
- Families with a parent suffering from cancer, comparable to German socio-demographic averages, exhibit a high demand for organizational support.
- The Brückenschlag model project effectively facilitates access to necessary support services for these families.
- The project highlights the critical need for coordinated and accessible support systems for families navigating cancer diagnoses.
Objective:
Families with one parent suffering from cancer are exposed to extraordinary emotional and organizational burdens, affecting underaged children. To help coordinated access to social and logistic support options and thus reduce the stress on family members, the project Brückenschlag was founded. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the implementation of this pilot project following the healthcare utilization model by Andersen.
Methods:
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a mixed-method approach. Semi-structured written expert surveys (n=10) and secondary analysis of routine data of the care model (n=171 families) were combined.
Results:
Quantitative secondary analysis: The participating families had 1-7 children (median (m) 2, range (s) 6). In 66% of the cases, the mother was affected by cancer, in 20% the diseased parent was in a single parent household. The communication structure in these families was rated "limited" to "rather open". Of the total of 171 contacts (study period 9/14 to 11/17), 133 families made use of Brückenschlag; 59.2% of the contacts were made by psycho-oncologists and the social services department of the hospital. If the contact was initiated by the patients themselves or by psycho-oncologists, a guidance was established significantly more frequently (significance of chi-squared test 0.047). Qualitative analysis: There was a lack of awareness and coordination of existing support services and a lack of family resources to use existing support offers. Both the desired and the established support fell primarily in the area of organizational support. Brückenschlag improved networking and took on a navigating function for the families.
Conclusion:
The data collected indicate that in families, matching the German average in their socio-demographic characteristics, a great need for organizational support develops as soon as one parent becomes sick with cancer. The model project Brückenschlag creates an access to support services for families with one parent suffering from cancer.
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