SchoolCare: A Social Intervention Introducing Telepresence Robots and School Navigation to Reduce School Fragmentation for Children Undergoing Cancer Treatment

Advances in pediatric cancer treatment have led to significant improvements in survival rates, where 5-year survival now exceeds 85%. Despite improved survival, children and adolescents who survive cancer often face significant short- and long-term psychosocial and physical late effects. Children undergoing cancer treatment often experience prolonged school absence, which disrupts their academic development and impedes critical socio-emotional growth during formative school years, with lasting consequences into adulthood. Together, these challenges underscore the need for targeted interventions that support educational continuity, promote school activity, and foster psychosocial well-being. The SchoolCare Intervention aims to reduce school absence experienced by children diagnosed with cancer during their treatment trajectory. The intervention introduces school navigation support in combination with the use of telepresence robots (TPRs) and a teleteaching program. TPRs enable the children to attend school remotely, when they are not able to attend physically. The study is designed to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention throughout a period of eight months for school-aged children (i.e., 5-17 years) who are diagnosed with cancer. The investigators hypothesize that telepresence robots will increase school attendance among children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer, representing our primary outcome (H1). Additionally, the investigators explore secondary outcomes by hypothesizing that the intervention will improve the social well-being of these children and adolescents (H2) and enhance their academic level (H3). By focusing on both school attendance and broader psychosocial and academic effects, this study will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the telepresence robot intervention and its potential to support educational continuity and well-being for children with cancer.