“Taking back control together”: Definition of a new intervention designed to support parents confronted with childhood cancer

Parental distress is a major issue in pediatric oncology. The literature shows that intervention programs aimed at supporting parents are effective in reducing parental distress following their child’s cancer diagnosis. However, most programs bear limitations, most often related to their focus on the individual (rather than the family), and their dissemination possibilities. TAKING BACK CONTROL TOGETHER is an integrative program which was developed to respond to these limitations and take the best of effective existing components. In line with development standards from behavioral medicine (ORBIT model), this 6-sessions program aims to reduce parental distress by reinforcing both Problem Solving Skills Techniques (PSST) in 4 individual sessions and communication within the couple and dyadic coping in 2 sessions with the parent couple. The program was first developed in French-language and is now being adapted in English. Because the program addresses both individual PSST and dyadic coping, it is expected to yield more benefits for parents than existing interventions. After this first phase of definition, the program should be pre-tested for refinement, and pilot-tested. This article aims to present the definition of this program, including handbooks for caregivers and parents, as well as worksheets and electronic resources.