Short-term perspectives of parents and teachers on school reintegration of childhood brain tumour survivors

ABSTRACT

Objective: To discover short-term changes in perspectives of parents and teachers of childhood brain tumour survivors on school reintegration, in order to reveal similarities and differences between them over time. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents and teachers of five children at the start and the end of a 1-year period following the child’s school re-entry. Results: Thematic analysis of data resulted in three main themes: ‘the child’s performance and wellbeing’, ‘the school’s attitude and approach’ and ‘communication and working together’. Parental concerns about child-specific changes and the school’s approach to the child could either decrease or increase over time. Teachers remained focused on assessing their pupil’s learning potential and finding ways of appropriate support. Their different perspectives on communication and working together became more pronounced. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the importance of clear communication and collaboration, coordinated follow-up and availability of healthcare professionals during the child’s school reintegration.

KEYWORDS:

• Brain tumour
• children
• follow-up
• key figures
• school reintegration
• semi-structured interviews

Acknowledgments

We thank the children and their families for participating in this study.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

S.V. received a bursary from the Jeanne and Alice Van de Voorde Fund from the King Baudouin Foundation, as well as from the Scientific Fund Willy Gepts from the UZ Brussel, Belgium. A.J. is funded by the Research Foundation Flanders.