{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T09:07:07Z","timestamp":1784192827295,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Children undergoing cancer treatment face repeated, prolonged hospitalisations carrying substantial risks of psychological distress, social isolation, and impaired development. Volunteers offering structured non-medical activities are widely employed to complement professional psychosocial care in paediatric oncology settings, yet empirical evidence examining their role specifically\u2014as distinct from professionally delivered psychosocial interventions\u2014remains sparse. This narrative review, conducted in accordance with SANRA criteria and drawing on a structured search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar (2000\u20132025), supplemented by a targeted verification search in July 2026, synthesises the theoretical and preliminary empirical basis for volunteer involvement, critically evaluates associated clinical risks, and proposes evidence-informed recommendations for paediatric oncology clinical practice. Three theoretical frameworks provide the conceptual grounding for volunteer activities: developmental psychological models (Piaget; Erikson), stress and coping theory (Lazarus and Folkman), and the biopsychosocial model (Engel). Indirect empirical evidence\u2014derived predominantly from professionally delivered interventions\u2014supports short-term benefits of structured distraction, play, and social activities on procedural anxiety, pain experience, and sense of social inclusion; the sole study examining volunteer-facilitated activities specifically in paediatric oncology reported meaningful reductions in distress and high family satisfaction. Eight categories of clinical risk are identified, including physical and psychological overload, erosion of child autonomy, suppression of authentic emotional expression, and inadequate coordination with healthcare staff. Six practice recommendations are proposed, centred on a working definition of the volunteer role, mandatory pre-access training, genuine individualisation including cultural adaptation, multidisciplinary-team-led coordination, and structured programme evaluation. Volunteer involvement can meaningfully complement professional psychosocial care when delivered within a structured, supervised, and multidisciplinary-team-coordinated framework. The paediatric oncology team occupies a pivotal role in realising the potential benefits while safeguarding children from associated risks. Prospective research employing standardised volunteer programme definitions and validated child-reported outcome measures is urgently needed to build an evidence base commensurate with the clinical importance of this practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13070928","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T08:08:34Z","timestamp":1784189314000},"page":"928","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Role of Volunteers in Supporting the Psychosocial Well-Being of Hospitalised Children with Cancer: A Narrative Review and Recommendations for Clinical Practice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3639-7196","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivana","family":"Kreft Hausmeister","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Paediatric Clinic, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Zalo\u0161ka 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7426-1591","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Janez","family":"Jazbec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Paediatric Clinic, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Zalo\u0161ka 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1183","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djaf321","article-title":"Childhood cancer survival in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, during 2008\u20132017 (SURVCAN-3): A population-based benchmarking study of 16,821 children","volume":"118","author":"Daltveit","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Natl. Cancer Inst."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S426","DOI":"10.1002\/pbc.25730","article-title":"Psychosocial assessment as a standard of care in pediatric cancer","volume":"62","author":"Kazak","year":"2015","journal-title":"Pediatr. Blood Cancer"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"952","DOI":"10.1002\/pbc.20373","article-title":"Symptoms of post-traumatic stress in children with cancer and their parents: Effects of informant and time from diagnosis","volume":"45","author":"Phipps","year":"2005","journal-title":"Pediatr. Blood Cancer"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S419","DOI":"10.1002\/pbc.25675","article-title":"Standards for psychosocial care of children with cancer and their families: An introduction to the special issue","volume":"62","author":"Wiener","year":"2015","journal-title":"Pediatr. Blood Cancer"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Perasso, G., Romeo, M., Coccia, P., Palego, G., and Perez-Duarte Mendiola, P. (2025). Fostering the psychological wellbeing of children diagnosed with cancer: Multidisciplinary insights in pediatric oncology. Front. Psychol., 16.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1495969"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12931","DOI":"10.1111\/eci.12931","article-title":"Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over narrative reviews?","volume":"48","author":"Greenhalgh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Investig."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(18)30909-4","article-title":"Estimating the total incidence of global childhood cancer: A simulation-based analysis","volume":"20","author":"Ward","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet Oncol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Uman, L.S., Chambers, C.T., McGrath, P.J., and Kisely, S. (2006). Psychological interventions for needle-related procedural pain and distress in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., CD005179. Update in Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2013, CD005179. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/14651858.CD005179.pub3.","DOI":"10.1002\/14651858.CD005179.pub2"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1177\/1043454209355983","article-title":"Music therapy to reduce pain and anxiety in children with cancer undergoing lumbar puncture: A randomized clinical trial","volume":"27","author":"Nguyen","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Pediatr. Oncol. Nurs."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, W.H.C., Chung, J.O.K., Ho, K.Y., and Kwok, B.M.C. (2016). Play interventions to reduce anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children. BMC Pediatr., 16.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12887-016-0570-5"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"326","DOI":"10.1177\/1367493506067884","article-title":"Children\u2019s experiences of hospitalisation","volume":"10","author":"Coyne","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Child Health Care"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"526","DOI":"10.1097\/NNA.0000000000001058","article-title":"The impact of volunteering at a family camp for children and adolescents with cancer: The experience of paediatric intensive care nurses","volume":"51","author":"Butterworth","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Nurs. Adm."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Strkljevic, I., Tiedemann, A., Souza de Oliveira, J., Haynes, A., and Sherrington, C. (2024). Health professionals\u2019 involvement in volunteering their professional skills: A scoping review. Front. Med., 11.","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2024.1368661"},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"172","article-title":"Fatigue in children and adolescents with cancer","volume":"15","author":"Hinds","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Pediatr. Oncol. Nurs."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cnur.2010.03.004","article-title":"\u2018I want to live, until I don\u2019t want to live anymore\u2019: Involving children with life-threatening and life-shortening illnesses in decision making about care and treatment","volume":"45","author":"Belasco","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nurs. Clin. N. Am."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Piaget, J. (1972). The Psychology of the Child, Basic Books."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Erikson, E.H. (1963). Childhood and Society, Norton. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Lazarus, R.S., and Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, Springer."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1126\/science.847460","article-title":"The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine","volume":"196","author":"Engel","year":"1977","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1186\/s41073-019-0064-8","article-title":"SANRA\u2014A scale for the quality assessment of narrative review articles","volume":"4","author":"Baethge","year":"2019","journal-title":"Res. Integr. Peer Rev."}],"container-title":["Children"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/13\/7\/928\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T08:50:19Z","timestamp":1784191819000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/13\/7\/928"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]}},"alternative-id":["children13070928"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/children13070928","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-9067"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-9067","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]}}}