S2648
RTT - Patient experience and quality of life
ESTRO 2026
children did.HCPs generally favoured awake treatment, as it reduces the risk of cognitive sequelae, avoids anaesthesia-related complications, enhances parental involvement, improves time and resource efficiency, and reduces weightloss and nausea in children. However, they also expressed concerns aboutchildren’s motion during treatment, which couldimpact treatment precisionandthe potential trauma in awake children related to immobilisation, sensory experiences and separation from parents. Conclusion: This study demonstrated different experiences and perspectives among children,parents and HCPs during proton beam therapy. Children preferred to undergo treatment awake and were able to cope when adequately prepared and supported with coping strategies, indicatingthat concerns about trauma were often overstated.Parents emphasised the importance of consistent relationships with staff, individualised information, and involvement to maintain a sense of security. Anxiety due to lack of such support could potentially be passed on to the child.Interventions should therefore be directed towards structured preparation, parental support and continuity of care to reduce reliance on anaesthesia in young children. References: BRAUN, V. & CLARKE, V. 2012. Thematic analysis. APA handbook of research methods in psychology, Vol 2: Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. MIZUMOTO, M., et al. 2015. Preparation of pediatric patients for treatment with proton beam therapy. Radiotherapy and oncology, 114, 245-248. SCOTT, M. T., et al.T 2016. Reducing Anesthesia and Health Care Cost Through Utilization of Child Life Specialists in Pediatric Radiation Oncology. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 96, 401-405. Keywords: Explore, preparation, interventions Digital Poster 414 Patient-informed innovation - Exploring positional preferences for accelerated partial breast irradiation for the MR-Linac Jenna Dean 1,2 , Georgia Halkett 3 , Nigel Anderson 1 , Mark Tacey 1 , Farshad Foroudi 1 , Michael Chao 1 , Caroline Wright 2 1 Radiation Oncology, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Australia. 2 Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia. 3 Curtin School of Nursing/Curtin Health Innovation
TA, Herring C, Smith W, Verhaeghe JP. Adjuvant radiation therapy is feasible in epidermolysis bullosa: a case report. J Dermatol Res Ther. 2015;1:006. Keywords: Rare-Skin-Conditions, Multidisciplinary- Care Proffered Paper 355 Experiences and perspectives of children, parents and healthcare professionals on the use of anaesthesia in radiotherapy. Pernille Bekke, Klaus Seiersen, Akmal Safwat, Britta Weber, Yasmin Lassen-Ramshad, Anne Wilhøft Kristensen DCPT, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark Purpose/Objective: To explore the experiences and perspectives on the use of anaesthesia during proton beam therapy of
children aged4-8 years, their parents and healthcare professionals (HCPs). The aim
was toidentifyneeds, challengesand preferences to informthe development of interventions intended to support a reduction in the use of anaesthesia. Material/Methods: Between February andSeptember 2025, semi- structured interviews were conducted with five children, eight parents and 16 HCPs. The empirical material was systematically analysed using thematic analysisfollowing the approach described by Braun &Clarke. Results: Children expressed three themes: anxiety, coping and the desire for treatment while awake.One child underwent treatment underanaesthesia, while four experiencedtreatmentfully or partly awake. The awake children expressed being able to cope with sensory experiences oranxietywhen they felt prepared
and familiar with coping strategies. They preferred being treated awake rather than
experiencing side effectsofanaesthesiasuch as nausea and fatigue, which negatively affected their quality of life. Parents expressedsix themes: anxiety, information , individual approach, context, anaesthesia and being awake.Most parents preferred their children to be treated awake, if they felt their child was mature, prepared and in control. Parentsemphasised the need for individualised information and approaches to reduce anxiety. Separation and changes in treatmentstaff strongly impactedparents’ sense of security. They appeared to findseparation and the lack ofconsistent relationship with treatmentstaff more difficult to cope with than their
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