Evaluation of a home visitation program for families of children with cancer

This paper presents the results of a preliminary evaluation of a home visitation program for families of children with cancer. The visitation program has been well received by the parents and a statistical comparison of visited and nonvisited families suggested favorable effects of the program with respect to helping parents control feelings of anger and in enhancing or maintaining positive interaction with spouse, children, and grandparents. Comments by the parents indicated that the visits create an atmosphere which facilitates communication between members of the health care team and the family. Interviews with parents of deceased children revealed that a particularly important aspect of the program is the contact maintained with the family after the child has died. Overall, the results indicated that the visits can be a valuable addition to the total program of care for the chronically ill child.