@neWorld: A Virtual Community For Kids With Cancer

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.