About 1/3 of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are mothers of children who still live at home. They face additional challenges and stress, their children are also affected by the mother's illness. The oncological rehabilitation programme "getting better together" focuses on these special family needs. This waiting-control-group study examines the effectiveness of the intervention by accompanying the patients and their children over the course of a year and assessing their quality of life and psychological health.

About 1/3 of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are mothers of children who still live at home. They face additional challenges and stress, their children are also affected by the mother's illness. The oncological rehabilitation programme "getting better together", administered by the Rexrodt von Fircks Foundation and the Clinic Ostseedeich in Groemitz, Germany, focuses on these special family needs. This waiting-control-group-study, designed and executed at the Philipps University Marburg Medical Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, examines the effectiveness of the intervention by accompanying the patients and their children over the course of a year and assessing their quality of life and psychological health.

The primary outcome measure for mothers is the health related quality of life as assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 and BR-23; children's adaptation is assessed with the ILK (Inventory for the Assessment of Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents) as well as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

Inclusion Criteria:

• participants of the rehabilitation programme "getting better together"
• mothers of children up to the age of 16
• have been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer for the first time in their lives
• chemotherapy or radiation therapy ended no less than 6 weeks ago

Exclusion Criteria:

• metastases