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Childhood Cancer Survivors’ Experiences Going Back to School

1
N. Tokuchi and K. Tanimoto 1

1 School of Nursing Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Japan

Background: Treatment of childhood cancer requires long-term hospitalization. Going back to school
after a long absence can be challenging for childhood cancer survivors. After discharge, children
going back to school live with late effects that present daily difficulties.

Objective: To clarify the experiences faced by children with cancer when they going back to school.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven children aged 10 to 18 who are childhood
cancer survivors. They had been discharged for one to six years and were attending regular schools. On
average, they had been out of school for nine months. Their responses were analyzed qualitatively using the
Modified-Grounded Theory Approach.

Results: Mixed emotions before going back to school

The children were looking forward to going back to school, on the other side, they felt anxious that
their long-term hospitalization would create alienation from their classmates and cause them to fall
behind in school work.

The Challenge of continuing school life

After going back to school, due to extreme fatigue beyond their imagination, they had great difficulty
even in spending time at school. They couldn’t participate in physical education classes and couldn’t
act the same as their classmates. Their long-term hospitalization often resulted them to be placed
in upper grade with different classroom and unfamiliar classmates. They were under psychological
stress because they were very conscious of their changed appearance, and faced actual remarks
from classmates. They felt left behind in learning and had difficulty keeping up with their school work.

Conclusion: The children with cancer were looking forward to going back to school. However, they
faced challenges such as lack of physical strength, changed appearance, and falling behind in school
work. Medical and school personnel need to address these difficulties. It is necessary to support the
children to keep in touch with their classmates during hospitalization.

Keywords: childhood cancer survivors, going back to school, long-term hospitalization
Poster Presentation Abstracts
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Correspondence: Nobuko Tokuchi, School of Nursing Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Japan
E-mail: tokuchi.nobuko@kagawa-u.ac.jp

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