Sense of School Belonging and School Reintegration for Students Hospitalized With Chronic or Complex Medical Diseases: Insights From a Grounded Theory Study.
Lucrezia Tomberli, Laura Vagnoli, Letizia Pavone and 2 others
PMID 42304831WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalized children described school belonging in hospital school mainly through close hospital teachers, not peers.
Mainstream schools often felt distant, and digital lessons did not replace human contact. Reintegration was described as smoother when there was contact with classmates and teachers, not just lessons.
Key findings
01Parents and teachers described hospital school as helping children feel normal, think about life after hospitalization, and maintain a link with mainstream school.
02Children's hospital school drawings focused on the teacher-student relationship and did not show peers, while mainstream school drawings emphasized classmates and classroom life.
03Mainstream teachers often stayed in contact with parents or hospital teachers rather than directly with hospitalized students, and technology alone was not viewed as enough for belonging.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
It is qualitative, so it describes experiences and barriers rather than testing whether any approach improves reintegration. The student sample was small, and no students were interviewed after the pandemic. Findings may reflect the Italian and European hospital-school setting and may not transfer to other systems. Adult parents and teachers provided most of the interpretation, even though children's drawings and explanations were included. Pre-pandemic teachers were selected by chance, while post-pandemic teachers volunteered.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by a University of Florence research grant.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive descriptions of hospital school as evidence that it works. The study reports experiences and perceptions, not a tested intervention, and it did not interview students after the pandemic.