ABSTRACT
Remarkable advances have been made in cancer diagnosis and treatment since the 1930s, and care for
10 chronically ill children has shifted from the hospital to the home setting. An increasing number of children with cancer and their families cope with problems in day-to-day living at home. 10 As a result, not only are parents responsible for providing physical care, but
15 they also must become skilled in clinical assessment, clinical decision making, and coordination of care." Furthermore, the needs of the child with cancer demand constant parental vigilance. How parents cope with their child's cancer diagnosis and its treatment has
20 been found to impact on the child's treatment-related morbidity, quality of life, and even treatment outcome.s,l2-14
h. b . 15-17 s rt 25 can ac 1eve etter copmg outcomes. uppo groups, as a form of social support, have long been recognized as an effective intervention, producing positive psychological outcomes in cancer patients and their families. 18 Even for individuals with strong famil-
30 ial and interpersonal networks, support groups have been found to bridge the gap between information giving and social support. 19 According to Yalom/0 there are 11 therapeutic factors existing in support groups: instillation of hope, universality, imparting informa-
35 tion, altruism, the corrective recapitulation of the primary family group, development of socialization techniques, imitative behavior, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, and existential factors.
