Social network support to increase parental caring capacity when a parent has cancer. An RCT study.

The project has followed adjusted schedule, and was formally ended at 31.12.16. During the project period, we have carried out the following tasks: 1) Finished a RCT study regarding optimizing social network support for families living with parental cancer, where 35 families (35 well parents and 35 children) have participated. Eighteen families were randomized to the intervention group (getting a network meeting) together with 130 network members, and 17 families were randomized to the control group. 2) Scientific, peer reviewed papers: - Hauken, M.AA., Senneseth, M., Dyregrov, K., Dyregrov, A (2015): Social Network Support and Cancer. Study protocol for the Cancer-PEPSONE study - a randomized controlled study on optimizing social network support to families living with parental cancer. MIR Res Protoc 2015 (Dec 30); 4(4):e142 -*Senneseth M, Hauken M, Matthiesen SB, Gjestad R, Laberg JC (2016). Facing spousal cancer during child-rearing years: do social support and hardiness moderate the impact of psychological distress on quality of life? Cancer Nursing, 2016. DOI:10.1097/NCC.0000000000000379.[Epub ahead of print] - *Senneseth M, Dyregrov A, Laberg JC, Matthiesen SB, Pereira M, Hauken M. Facing spousal cancer during child-rearing years: the short-term effects of the Cancer-PEPSONE programme ? a single-center randomized controlled trial. Psycho-Oncology, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/PON.4329. [Epub ahead of print] - Hauken, M., Senneseth, M., Dyregrov, A., Dyregrov, K.: ?Anxiety and the Quality of Life of Children Living with Parental Cancer?. Cancer Nursing 2017. DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000467. [Epub ahead of print] -*Senneseth M, Dyregrov A, Matthiesen SB, Pereira M, Hauken M. Improving social network support for partners facing spousal cancer while caring for minors: four-month outcomes of a single-center randomized controlled trial. Manuscript submitted for publication. - Hauken, M., Pereira, M., Senneseth, M. ?The effects on children's anxiety and quality of life of a psychoeducational program for families living with parental cancer and their network - an RCT study?. Manuscript under review - Hauken, M., Dyregrov, K.; Senneseth, M. "Who are the supporters of families living with parental cancer and what kind of support do they provide?" In manuscript 3) PhD Mette Senneseth submitted her thesis: "Improving social network support for partners facing spousal cancer while caring for minors. A randomized controlled trial" 19the of December 2016. The thesis consists of three papers (marked with * above) and a synopsis. 4)Other publications: - During the project period we have written several blogs, chronics and papers published in different journals and websites. - We have made a DVD regarding social networksupport published on our website and sent to the families in the project. - We have written a book chapter regarding social network support: Haugland BSM, Bugge KE, Trondsen MV, Gjesdal S (Red):"Familier i motbakke" named "Sosial nettverksstøtte når mor eller far har kreft" ved Hauken, M og Dyregrov, K. Fagbokforlaget 2015. 5) Lectures and conferences - During the project period we have performed several lectures for healthcare professionals in the primary healthcare system and in the specialist health care, for cancer patients and their families, as well as lectures for students at several universities and university colleges. - We have presented results from the project on two international conferences and several national conferences. 6) Developing an implementation study - We developed a protocol for an implementation study called:"Social network support and cancer.An implementation study of optimizing social network support for families living with parental cancer". We applied for funding from NFR, but was unfortunately rejected. 7) Summing-up seminar - We will arrange a summing-up seminar where we present the main results from the project 10th of February 2017.

Cancer affects 18,000 Norwegian families with children annually, and inflict on life quality of next-of-kin children at all ages. Families experience dramatic life changes following a cancer diagnosis, and the most important help for children and families in crises is practical and/or emotional support from friends and family. By providing networks with various support strategies, professionals could facilitate a more prolonged network support. The overall aim of this project is to optimize inherent resou rces in social network support for families affected by cancer, by strengthening the networks confidence and capacity to support families and children in crisis. The effect of a support-program for social networks will be studied in an RCT. 60 families (one child and the healthy parent) will be assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group will recruit close members of their social networks who will participate in psycho educational network meetings. The intervention is designed t o strengthen the social network support. By so doing, parental capacity may increase so that children and parents achieve a better quality of life. Our study thereby investigates to what extent social network support mediates the intervention effects on p arent and children outcomes. It will also be possible to investigate whether background variables/demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, education) moderate the effects of the intervention. Society will benefit greatly by optimizing this wanted and av ailable source of support. Competent and secure networks may relieve the public sector, and save society financial expenses, release more resources for the families, and increase parental care capacity. Most importantly, children may be taken better care of by their parents,be relieved of anxiety and adult obligations, have increased opportunity to live as children, and have a better quality of life during cancer in the family