Abstract
This study aims to identify the needs and wishes of childhood cancer long-term survivors for digitally mediated emotional peer support. Survivors of childhood cancer (six men, seven women) aged 19–33, participated in semi-structured interviews (November–December 2020). Age of diagnosis ranged from 1 to 13 years. The interviews lasted between 45 and 85 min. A thematic analysis was used to identify three themes for needs: processing long-term complications of cancer treatment, processing psychosocial health and meeting others who share similar experiences; and another three themes reflecting wishes: digital tools for connecting with people who had had similar experiences, different modes of communication and a safe place with varying degrees of anonymity. The findings emphasized the needs and wishes of childhood cancer survivors to meet others who had had similar experiences using a digital tool that offered a secure place, with options for a variety of communication methods and levels of anonymity. Peer support can serve as an important complement to professional psychosocial support.
Highlights
The AYA childhood cancer survivors in our study identified a lack of existing resources for emotional support
We identified three main themes in the interview data that expressed the AYA childhood cancer survivors’ needs and wishes for digitally mediated emotional support
This study emphasized the needs and wishes of AYA long-term survivors of childhood cancer, and the participants emphasized the need to get in contact with others with similar experiences
Summary
In recent decades, improved treatment has contributed to increasing the survivor rate to over 80% in this population in the Nordic countries [1]. The number of individuals in society treated for childhood cancer has increased. Intense cancer treatment causes several late complications, and about 60–80 percent of the individuals who have had childhood cancer experience them. Often, these complications do not appear until much later in life [2,3]. Long-term survivors of childhood cancer can suffer from a number of mental health issues [4]
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