Research
CCF’s research team conducts psychosocial research in the field of paediatric oncology and conducts regular research engagements with our direct service teams. Regular research engagements support programme and service development through providing direct service teams with updates on relevant literature, contextualize findings from research and literature, programme and service evaluation support. Through these, the research team contributes to CCF’s mission of improving the quality of life of beneficiaries.
Ongoing Research:
Needs That Matter: Caregivers’ perception of their own needs as their child undergoes cancer treatment in Singapore
The CCF research team collaborated with practitioners in Caregiver Support Services and completed a study, Needs That Matter, that is designed with deliberate intent to gather actionable insights to aid their program development needs. The study was done via a closed-ended survey with 45 caregivers whose children were diagnosed in 2022. Our findings show that existing support and resources are meeting the informational and practical needs of the caregivers of children with cancer in treatment. Also, caregivers of children with cancer are prioritizing their child’s care needs over their own needs while their child is in treatment, and caregivers may discount the importance of their needs and well-being. Therefore, more attention could be paid to the emotional and psychosocial needs of the caregivers. The findings of the studies are currently being used by Caregiver Support Services to update existing programmes to better support caregivers of children with cancer.
Completed Research:
2023
- Lessons from a collaborative needs assessment with a focus on programme planning for caregivers of children with cancer
In this poster presentation, we outlined a collaboration by the research team and case workers cum programme planners from the Caregiver Support Services (CSS) to design a practice research project that deliberately emphasizes programme planning needs and retrieval of actionable results, while managing the robustness of the study. Three key learnings have emerged from the study process that would help to facilitate future collaborations between researchers and practitioners, namely: (i) Negotiating the balance between representative and actionable results (ii) Managing the expectations of researchers, practitioners and service users in the process and (iii) The potential benefits of the service user-led approach in practice research. The poster was presented at the 6th International Conference on Practice Research in Social Work and the SASW Social Work Practice Research Seminar in 2023.
- Implementing the psychosocial standards of care in a childhood cancer setting in Singapore
This presentation outlines CCF’s experience as an organization in meeting the standards of psychosocial care. In 2015, fifteen evidence-based Standards for Psychosocial Care for Children with Cancer and Their Families (Standards) were published to help ensure that children with cancer and their families receive essential psychosocial care. Children’s Cancer Foundation, Singapore (CCF), conducted an exercise to look at how the organization’s psychosocial services and programs vis-à-vis the established Standards. Evidence-informed model of care taking into consideration the needs of children with cancer both within the hospital and community context allowed CCF to provide psychosocial care to children with cancer and their families. Constant review and monitoring of programs and services allowed the organization to keep up to date with the needs enabling us to go beyond the provision of essential psychosocial care that was outlined in the fifteen Standards. This presentation was shared at the 15th Childhood Cancer International Asia Conference in 2023.
2021
- Riding through the Pandemic Parenting a child with cancer during COVID-19
This study studied how the pandemic has impacted the caregiving experience of parents of children with cancer via a closed-ended online survey with 78 parents in October 2020. We found that caregiving demand has increased during the pandemic, and two in five parents were severely impacted by the pandemic. Parents did not experience a significant change in social support and were coping well with the stressors during the pandemic. The study highlights both the challenges faced as well as the strengths exhibited by these parents amid the pandemic. The findings were also presented at the 2nd Singapore Social Work Practice Research Conference 2021 hosted by NUS Social Work Department
- CCF Employee Survey: Investigating The Impact Of New Work Arrangements on Staff
This study seeks to investigate the impact of changes in work arrangements on the staff in CCF, their coping, and support required during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite an increase in stress levels, staff were adapting well to the current work arrangement and agreed that CCF took appropriate measures to ensure their health and well-being. However, providing services through virtual platforms was also challenging for social workers and specialists. Despite the challenges, staff in CCF felt that they were generally well-supported, and the organisation’s new work arrangements were appropriate during this pandemic.
2020
- Rehabilitation needs and associated challenges of childhood cancer survivors in Singapore
In collaboration with students from NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre, a research study was conducted with 71 caregivers and allied health professionals to understand childhood cancer survivors’ rehabilitation needs and challenges. About one in three required rehabilitation at the hospital, and the main challenges were time constraints and transportation issues. At home, the leading issues faced by parents were the child’s unwillingness to do the rehabilitation exercises, discomfort and lack of time.
- Do you know? Awareness and perception of childhood cancer in Singapore
Findings from this study showed that there is generally good knowledge about childhood cancer in Singapore. Compassion for children with cancer was also high. However, knowledge and awareness appeared to be independent of direct support for children with cancer. A sizeable number of respondents were unsure how they could interact with or help children with cancer. It highlighted the need to provide practical tips to the public on the roles they could play in the lives of children with cancer and their families.
- Needs assessment for siblings affected by childhood cancer: Parents’ Perspectives
This study was conducted to investigate the psychosocial impact on siblings from the parents’ perspective. It included a review of their coping strategies and the sources of support they deemed necessary and helpful. Spending quality time together and engaging immediate family members to provide caregiving support were the coping strategies adopted by most parents. Negative impacts detected were diverse but for the majority of siblings observed, positive impacts were more apparent. However, these acts of maturity should not be assumed as signs that they were coping well. Parents and support services should also be attentive to the needs of siblings at different developmental stages and provide age-appropriate intervention.
2019
- Needs of children with cancer who have returned to mainstream school
This study captured the sharing of 16 parents and four youth survivors on the challenges faced in returning to school after cancer treatments. Along the illness trajectory, parents and youths had engaged various systems including CCF, school, family and medical to support the schooling needs. This finding denotes the importance of the coordinated efforts needed to support children with cancer in their reintegration to school.
2018
- The aftermath of losing caregiver to cancer: Assessment of psychosocial impacts from children and adolescents’ perspectives
This study captures the voices of 13 children and adolescents, aged seven to 16, who invited us into their worlds to reveal their lived experiences in the face of their parents’ cancer and eventual death.
Be it pre- or post-death period, all of them experienced some form of emotional impacts and practical disruptions in daily life. Yet, all of them had their own coping strategies, primarily by engaging themselves with some forms of activities and distracting themselves from the resulted distress
- An exploratory study of bereavement care in Singapore: the needs, coping experiences and service provision
A collaboration with Singapore Hospice Council, this study aims to understand and examine the needs of bereaved persons and examine how far the current support network has supported the bereaved in their grief.
2017
- Siblings’ Coping with A Brother or Sister with Childhood Cancer: The Parents’ Perspectives
This study sought to understand the psychosocial impacts of childhood cancer on siblings. Eleven parents were interviewed through two focus group interviews. Siblings experienced tremendous changes and impacts resulting from a childhood cancer diagnosis. Parents attempted to attend to the siblings’ needs and facilitate their adjustments which helped the siblings to gradually cope and adapt over time. Such attempts often took a toll on parents juggling between the child with cancer and these siblings, and thus require additional resources to support them in this process.
- The Needs of Children with Cancer Returning to School
This study explored the schooling needs of children with cancer who are planning to return to school, to augment what is already known and to identify any other areas of needs or service gaps. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted with 12 parents. When their child was preparing to return school at the end of treatment, parents expressed the following concerns and needs with regards to schooling:
1. Physical / medical constraints
2. Psychological and emotional wellbeing
3. Academic performance
4. Socialisation and interpersonal relationships
By addressing the needs and concerns identified in this study, it can help to ease the transition back to school for children with cancer.
