KABOOST-school: school rehabilitation program for children and adolescents who have recovered from cancer

More and more children are recovering from cancer, but it's not guaranteed that they'll regain their pre-illness physical levels. The KABOOST school project aids these children and their schools in this process.

Research theme: Healthy exercise

Field of interest: Education; Health and Care

Duration: 1/09/2023 - 1/09/2024

Financing: PWO; Andere

Challenges for children and adolescents after cancer treatment

The return of children and adolescents to school after undergoing cancer treatment presents specific challenges. Often, schools struggle to understand the needs of these children and adolescents and how to support them appropriately. Furthermore, the children and adolescents often express that they experience a setback in terms of fitness and strength compared their peers after their cancer treatment.

Rehabilitation program KABOOST

Currently, Ghent University Hospital (UZGent) offers a rehabilitation program called KABOOST to regain fitness and strength to increasing quality of life, self-confidence and reintegration. Unfortunately, we observe that this program does not reach all children and adolescents. This is mainly because the program is expensive, demanding in terms of time and energy, takes place in the hospital, which some participants view negatively, and involves little involvement form school and parents.

To address these issues, UZGent, Ghent University (UGent) and Artevelde University of Applied Sciences collaborating in a new initiative called “KABOOST-school”.

The aim of KABOOST-school is twofold:

Supporting schools in return of children and adolescents after cancer treatment by providing them with the necessary information
Exploring the possibilities of translating the KABOOST program from the hospital setting to the school context.

End products: guide and movement program

With these objectives in mind, we used design thinking research with the strong involvement of young warriors, their parents, and members of the school team. After going through the empathize phase, ideate phase and testing phase, two end products were developed.

“Guide for the return to school cured of cancer: together strong” – providing schools with guidance for a smooth return.
“Movement program to facilitate rehabilitation of children and adolescents cured of cancer at school” – providing schools with tips and inspiration for physical activity for returning students.

We believe in the power of continuous improvement of the end product through feedback and input from the field. This way, schools can optimally support our brave warriors and their families to become strong together.