OBJECTIVES:

• Develop an Internet-based application that allows pediatric patients with cancer to enter a virtual community with the following capabilities:

  • Interact with classmates and participate in classroom activities via e-mail, chat groups, online field trips, art studio, music room, and game room
  • Identify and interact with a community of peers with similar medical conditions
  • Access a dictionary to get medical information in understandable terms
  • Interact with the medical community online
  • Interact with family members online
• Determine the acceptability of this program among groups of these patients and their classmates, teachers, family members, and healthcare providers using focus groups.
• Determine the effect of this program on self-esteem, coping behaviors, perceived social support, cancer-relevant medical knowledge, and feelings of control over health destiny in these patients.
• Determine the effect of this program on the performance of these patients in school.
• Determine the effect of this program in alleviating psychological distress in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

• Phase I: Students, family members, teachers, and health providers participate in focus groups to provide system design and implementation input and to assess overall acceptability of a prototype Internet-based application for pediatric cancer patients.

• Phase II: Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 groups, based on participating center.

  • Group 1: Patients have access to and utilize the Internet-based application @neWorld.
  • Group 2: Patients do not have access to or utilize @neWorld. In both groups, patients complete questionnaires measuring psychological distress, quality of life, self-esteem, coping behaviors, perceived academic and social competence, perceived social support, cancer-relevant medical knowledge, feelings of control over health destiny, utilization of psychological services, and performance in school at baseline and 3 and 6 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 94 patients (44 for group 1 and 50 for group 2) will be accrued for this study.