Upping my game as a parent: Attributed gains in participating in a cancer parenting program for child-rearing parents with advanced cancer

Objectives The objective of this study was to describe in the words of child-rearing parents with incurable cancer, what they had gained or thought about as a result of participating in a five-session, scripted, telephone-delivered psycho-educational parenting intervention, the Enhancing Connections Program in Palliative Care. Methods A total of 26 parents completed the program. Parents' responses were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim and verified for accuracy. The analysis proceeded through four steps: unitizing, coding into categories, defining categories, and formation of a core construct that explained parents' attributed gains. Trustworthiness of study results was protected by coding to consensus, formal peer debriefing, and maintaining an audit trail. Results Although 50% reached or exceeded clinical cutoff scores on anxiety and 42% reached or exceeded clinical cutoff scores on depressed mood, parents extensively elaborated what they gained. Results revealed six categories of competencies they attributed to their participation in the program: (1) being ready for a conversation about my cancer, (2) bringing things out in the open, (3) listening better to my child, (4) getting my child to open up, (5) not getting in my child's way, and (6) changing my parenting. Conclusions Despite an extensive symptom burden, parents with incurable cancer attributed major gains from a brief, fully scripted, cancer parenting communication intervention. A manualized telephone-delivered educational counseling program for symptomatic parents with incurable cancer has the potential to augment competencies for parents as they assist their children manage the cancer experience.