Supporting Siblings of Children with Cancer Through Community-Academic Partnerships

Background

Siblings are frequently overlooked within the context of family-centered care in pediatric oncology. Many siblings of children with cancer report symptoms of depression, anxiety, and cancer-related posttraumatic stress. Few sibling-focused support programs exist, and existing programs are often inaccessible to siblings. Thus, community-academic partnerships might be the best route to improve sibling care. “SuperSibs! Powered by Alex's Lemonade Stand” is an organization that works to ensure that siblings of children with cancer are supported, and therefore, would be the ideal community organization with which to partner.

Project Goal

The goal of the proposed project is to translate sibling research findings into actionable programs in partnership with "SuperSibs! Powered by Alex's Lemonade Stand" so that they are accessible to siblings regardless of demographic factors, cancer characteristics, or access to hospital-based programs. The proposed project aims to (1) collaborate with "SuperSibs! Powered by Alex's Lemonade Stand" to understand the goals and needs of community partners, (2) conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify unmet needs siblings of children with cancer, and (3) understand existing modes of psychosocial support for other groups that might be applied to the pediatric cancer population. Findings from this project will be used to improve future sibling programs to address the unmet needs and minimize barriers to access that many families experience. The research will be translated into programs to improve outcomes among siblings of children with cancer.