[Rehabilitation of families of children and adolescents with cancer--long-term psychosocial outcome].

24 families of a child with cancer were questioned for a 3rd time, 8.4 years after initial diagnosis and 6.5 years after family-oriented rehabilitation, before and after which they had been interviewed twice. Subject to this follow-up was the current family situation and the stability of the remarkably positive effect the rehabilitation had shown in the 1st course of the study. Also we hoped to be able to identify problem-families. Generally the family situation seems to have returned to normal, the standardised tests applied showed no significant difference to the general public. Nonetheless some families could be identified as having severe coping difficulties with 2 to 4 members displaying psychosocial problems of a very high degree. Both groups of families profited in the same degree from the rehabilitation; this effect shows great stability for the families coping good, whereas those with coping difficulties worsen considerably, almost always beyond the degree displayed before the rehabilitation. To identify these families quickly and offer them support it seems necessary to establish an out-patient psychosocial follow-up.