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Support for Community School Personnel Working with Pediatric Cancer Patients: A Quality Improvement Initiative Cover

Support for Community School Personnel Working with Pediatric Cancer Patients: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Open Access
|Jan 2022

Figures & Tables

Table 1

School Personnel Positions.

POSITIONNUMBER OF RESPONSES
K-6 Classroom Teachern = 4
7-12 Classroom Teachern = 2
Homebound Teachern = 1
Guidance Counselorn = 5
Administratorn = 5
Othern = 3
TotalN = 20

[i] Note: Other respondents included two 6th– to 8th-grade classroom teachers and one prekindergarten/kindergarten special education teacher.

Figure 1

School Personnel’s Most Significant Concerns at School Reentry.

Figure 2

Categories of Teacher Guides Provided to Community School Personnel.

Note: Hospital school program students are patients who receive instruction through the institution’s hospital school program. Non-school program students are patients who receive instruction through their community school.

Table 2

Outline of Teacher Guides.

A GUIDE FOR WORKING WITH STUDENTS RECEIVING CANCER TREATMENT
Introduction to Childhood Cancer
  • General statistics

  • Types of treatment

  • Prognosis factors

School During Treatment
  • Importance of maintaining normalcy

  • Logistics of hospital-school programming or consultation process

  • Logistics of homebound instruction

  • Differences in decision-making timelines between hospitals and schools

Academic Support and Educational Plans
  • Educational impact of disease and treatment

  • Potential need for IEP/504 Plan

Social-Emotional Support
  • Bullying issues

  • Supporting peers and social relationships

  • Acknowledgment of fear/uncertainty from school staff

Medical and Physical Considerations
  • Weakened immune system/fatigue

  • Managing treatment schedule and academic instruction

  • Excusing medically related absences

Treatment Details (specific to the student)
  • Specific therapies

  • Duration of treatment plan

  • Prognosis

Side Effects (specific to the student’s diagnosis and treatment)
  • Possible school accommodations and supports

Resources for Schools
A GUIDE FOR WORKING WITH STUDENTS RETURNING TO THE CLASSROOM
Introduction to Childhood Cancer
  • General statistics

  • Types of treatment

  • Prognosis factors

Returning to School at Home/School After Treatment
  • Importance of maintaining normalcy

  • Support available from hospital staff/consultation process

Academic Support and Educational Plans
  • Long-term cognitive impact of cancer

  • Potential need for an IEP or 504 Plan now or as school demands increase

  • Differences in decision-making timelines between schools and hospitals

Social-Emotional Support
  • Mixed emotions from student/family

  • Possibility of survivor’s guilt

  • Acknowledgment of fear/uncertainty from school staff

  • Importance of open and regular communication

Medical and Physical Considerations
  • Weakened immune system/fatigue

  • Excusing medically related absences

Treatment Details (specific to the student)
  • Specific therapies

  • Prognosis

  • Necessity of follow-up appointments

Side Effects (specific to the student’s diagnosis and treatment)
  • Possible school accommodations and supports

Return-to-School Checklist
  • Schedule a meeting with the family to discuss need for accommodations

  • Determine attendance status (full-time, part-time, homebound)

  • Discuss school reentry presentation, if appropriate

  • Develop/update IEP, 504 Plan, or health care plan

  • Assign a “point person” to check in with student at regular intervals

Resources for Schools
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cie.36 | Journal eISSN: 2631-9179
Language: English
Submitted on: Aug 9, 2021
|
Accepted on: Nov 23, 2021
|
Published on: Jan 20, 2022
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2022 Sarah Klein, Nicole Byford, Susan Ellison, Niki Jurbergs, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.