Enhancing hope among early female survivors of childhood cancer via the Internet - A feasibility study

The purpose of this research was to establish the feasibility of delivering the Hope Intervention Program (HIP) using a Web-based design among 6 Female survivors of childhood cancer. The HIP is an 8-week program to foster and promote hope. Each session of the HIP has specific focus, goals, and activities that offer opportunities for participants to share and discuss issues of importance to them. The HIP was delivered online with the use of educational software that included Web cameras and voice and text chat capabilities. Feasibility was evaluated by examining how easily and effectively the soft-ware and hardware technology could be used to deliver the HIP and if meaningful dialogue and interactions among the study participants and the nurse Interventionist could occur online. The evaluation of this study suggested that using a Web-based approach was effective in the delivery of the intervention, as evidenced by participants' evaluation of the program and their descriptive comments that reflect that the online sessions promoted intimate, meaningful human-to-human Interactions to foster hope and build a trusting relationship among and between group members. The results of this study suggest that Web-based psychosocial nursing interventions for survivors of childhood survivors are feasible for nurse researchers to conduct.