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BACKGROUND	During cancer treatment children have reduced contact with their social network of friends , and have limited participation in education , sports , and leisure activities .
BACKGROUND	During and following cancer treatment , children describe school related problems , reduced physical fitness , and problems related to interaction with peers .
METHODS	The RESPECT study is a nationwide population-based prospective , controlled , mixed-methods intervention study looking at children aged 6-18 years newly diagnosed with cancer in eastern Denmark ( n = 120 ) and a matched control group in western Denmark ( n = 120 ) .
METHODS	RESPECT includes Danish-speaking children diagnosed with cancer and treated at pediatric oncology units in Denmark .
METHODS	Primary endpoints are the level of educational achievement one year after the cessation of first-line cancer therapy , and the value of VO2max one year after the cessation of first-line cancer therapy .
METHODS	Secondary endpoints are quality of life measured by validated questionnaires and interviews , and physical performance .
METHODS	RESPECT includes a multimodal intervention program , including ambassador-facilitated educational , physical , and social interventions .
METHODS	The educational intervention includes an educational program aimed at the child with cancer , the child 's schoolteachers and classmates , and the child 's parents .
METHODS	Children with cancer will each have two ambassadors assigned from their class .
METHODS	The ambassadors visit the child with cancer at the hospital at alternating 2-week intervals and participate in the intervention program .
METHODS	The physical and social intervention examines the effect of early , structured , individualized , and continuous physical activity from diagnosis throughout the treatment period .
METHODS	The patients are tested at diagnosis , at 3 and 6 months after diagnosis , and one year after the cessation of treatment .
METHODS	The study is powered to quantify the impact of the combined educational , physical , and social intervention programs .
CONCLUSIONS	RESPECT is the first population-based study to examine the effect of early rehabilitation for children with cancer , and to use healthy classmates as ambassadors to facilitate the normalization of social life in the hospital .
CONCLUSIONS	For children with cancer , RESPECT contributes to expanding knowledge on rehabilitation that can also facilitate rehabilitation of other children undergoing hospitalization for long-term illness .
BACKGROUND	Clinical Trials.gov : file .
BACKGROUND	NCT01772849 and NCT01772862 .

