Self-care skills training for school-age leukemia patients: current evidence and future directions

Leukemia is the most common cancer among children, and although the treatment of the condition has significantly improved survival rates and outcomes, children of school age experience considerable and continuing challenges in the physical, psychological, and social spheres when having to undergo treatment. In this situation, teaching self-care skills becomes vital to help children patients control their condition, adhere to therapy, and positively improve their quality of life. This review examines the last decade of literature on self-care skills in school-aged children with leukemia. Current programs target medical, psychological, educational, and technology-enhanced self-care, addressing both treatment adherence and psychosocial resilience. All these interventions are promising in enhancing treatment outcomes, psychological, and real functioning. Nevertheless, some significant problems exist in the field, such as the lack of unified models, longitudinal follow-up, and culturally and resource-sensitive methods. The approach to these gaps will be creative, multi-disciplinary, and technologically oriented, which will involve families, schools, and healthcare providers in the process of self-care. In the future, integrating self-care skills training in pediatric cancer care and policy may be able to change the supportive care in childhood leukemia and equip young patients with lifelong coping skills and the capacity to remain resilient beyond therapy.

Self-care skills training represents a vital component of supportive care in pediatric leukemia; however, future efforts should focus on developing unified models and multidisciplinary, family-centered approaches. Integrating self-care education into routine clinical practice and policy may strengthen long-term resilience and quality of life for childhood leukemia survivors.

• School-aged children with leukemia experience persistent physical, psychological, and social challenges during treatment, and self-care interventions are increasingly recognized as essential for improving adherence and quality of life. • Existing self-care programs mainly focus on medical management and psychosocial support, but standardized models and long-term evaluations remain limited.

• This review synthesizes the past decade of evidence on multidimensional self-care skills training (medical, psychological, educational, and technology-assisted) specifically for school-aged leukemia patients. • It identifies critical gaps including limited longitudinal follow-up and culturally adaptive approaches and proposes integrated, multidisciplinary strategies involving families, schools, and healthcare providers to enhance future pediatric oncology care.