Transition from active treatment to survivorship care for childhood cancer patients.

34Background: It has been described that the transition at the end of treatment is a time for relief that the treatment is over but also for fear of recurrence, dealing with the physical sequelae of treatment, reintegration back with friends and with school. To address these concerns we developed a transition program with a goal to provide information, offer educational support and also assess the needs of this group by individual interviews and by measuring stress/anxiety/depression among patients and parents. Methods: Patients who were between 3 months pre and 1 year post end of treatment were enrolled. We conducted 4 educational ‘Forums’, worked with them to develop education plans by individual testing and school meetings were held to implement educational plans. Emotional status was assessed with Questionnaires such as the Revised Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-P), Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the State Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI-C). Results: We had 7...