Investigation into the impact of technology-based motivation program applied to the children followed with cancer diagnosis and their families

This research was conducted in a randomized controlled trial in order to examine the effectiveness of the technology-based motivation program applied to children with cancer diagnosis and their primary caregivers according to the Transactional Stress and Coping Model. The research was completed with 31 children (15 interventions, 16 controls) and 31 primary caregivers (15 interventions, 16 controls) between the ages of 9-18, whose cancer treatment process continues. A 10-week "Technology Based Motivation Program" was applied to the intervention group, and routine care was given to the control group. Children and primary caregivers were asked to follow the program through the website, and four modules was completed by the children and three modules by their primary caregivers. The program consisted of breathing, progressive relaxation exercises, imagery practices and kid stories for children. Primary caregivers were provided with breathing and progressive relaxation exercises. In addition, counselling was provided to the children and primary caregivers at all hours whenever they wanted and motivational messages were sent weekly. At the beginning and at the end of the program, the children were applied "State and Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children", "The Quality of Life Scale for Children" and "Paediatric Cancer Coping Scale", and the "State and Trait Anxiety Inventory" were applied to the primary caregivers with "Process Evaluation Forms". Chi-square test, Fisher-Exact test, Independent Sample-t test, Man-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the data. The results of the study show that while the average state anxiety scores of the children in the intervention group and in the control group were similar before the program, the state anxiety scores of the children in the intervention group were significantly lower (29,27±8,13) than that of the control group (37,18±9,01) at the end of the program. Besides, it was determined that the coping scores of the children in the intervention group were significantly higher (80,20±9,62) than that of the control group (67,56±17,44) at the end of the program (p<0.05). It was found that whereas average anxiety scores of primary caregivers were similar before the program, the average state 33,73±12,30 and trait 39,80±9,43 anxiety scores of primary caregivers in the intervention group were significantly lower those of the control group (53,31±15,14 and 52,50±16,57, respectively) at the end of the program (p<0.05).It is concluded that the technology-based motivation program applied to children and their primary caregivers who are followed up with cancer diagnosis is effective in reducing anxiety, increasing quality of life and coping. It is recommended that technology-based motivation programs be integrated into the care protocols of children whose cancer treatment is ongoing.