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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Carol Sienché, MPH¹, Derek Inokuchi, MHS, CHES², Neyal J. Ammary, MPH, CHES³, and Sona S. Thakkar, MA¹. (1) Office of Education and Special Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 202, Bethesda, MD 20892-8334, 301-594-0407, thakkars@mail.nih.gov, (2) ORC Macro, 11785 Beltsville Dr., Suite 300, Calverton, MD 20705, (3) National Eye Institute, National Insitutes of Health, 31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892

A cancer diagnosis disrupts normal family functioning and often leaves family members feeling anxious and confused. When the diagnosis occurs in a child, healthy siblings may face unique challenges, such as feelings of worry, guilt, and even jealousy of the attention paid to their brother or sister with cancer. These feelings may be exacerbated by changes in routines that can leave healthy siblings feeling forgotten or left out. For teen siblings, these stresses can be especially challenging during a time already filled with change. Unfortunately, the psychosocial needs of healthy siblings have been largely overlooked. Research confirms that gaps exist in resources available to siblings of young cancer patients, especially for teens. To address these gaps, the Office of Education and Special Initiatives (OESI) at the National Cancer Institute developed a resource for teens who have a sibling recently diagnosed with cancer. The booklet addresses special issues healthy siblings may confront, such as bone marrow donation, concerns about school and friends, and seeking further help to deal with feelings. It provides additional resources and suggests ways siblings can help themselves and their families during this difficult time. This presentation will illustrate the OESI development process that was used to create the resource, and present findings from various stages in the process, including literature reviews, environmental scans, and expert reviews. Finally, we will present results from the pilot test of the booklet with teen siblings and outline dissemination and evaluation strategies.

Learning Objectives: