Background: The care of pediatric patients with cancer and their families is complex and evolving. Despite significant advances in outcomes, symptoms of disease and complications of therapy continue to cause pain and other symptoms that could be…
Introduction Despite advances in the treatment of cancer in paediatric patients, 15% of children die from the illness progression in Chile, and pain is the most significant symptom in advanced stages. Although the World Health Organization guidelines…
CONTEXT: Little is known about how parents of children with advanced cancer classify news they receive about their child's medical condition. OBJECTIVE: To develop concepts of "good news" and "bad news" in discussions of advanced childhood cancer…
As life expectancy grows, the death of an adult child becomes a highly prevalent problem for older adults. The present study is based on nine interviews and explores the experience of parents (≥70 years) outliving an adult child. The bereaved parents…
INTRODUCTION: Cancer remains a major cause of death in children, but recent advances in supportive care and progress in the use of chemotherapy have considerably improved the prognosis. The need for intensive care management in pediatric oncology…
BACKGROUND: Adolescents commonly experience loss due to death, and perceived closeness to the deceased can often increase the intensity of bereavement. Adolescents and early young adult (AeYA) oncology patients may recall previous losses or…
Purpose: There is lack of standardized resident' curriculum or training for the rapidly emerging field of pediatric end of life care. Goal: To assess pediatric residents' perception of their clinical competence with end of life care and their…
BACKGROUND: Adolescents living with incurable cancer require ongoing support to process grief, emotions, and information as disease progresses including treatment options (phase 1 clinical trials and/or hospice/palliative care). Little is known about…
BACKGROUND: End-of-life care (EOLC) discussions and decisions are common in pediatric oncology. Interracial differences have been identified in adult EOLC preferences, but the relation of race to EOLC in pediatric oncology has not been reported. We…
The aim of this study was to clarify advanced cancer patients' communication preferences regarding ending anticancer treatment and transitioning to palliative care, and to explore variables associated with these preferences. Participants were 106…
Background/Objectives: The practice of palliative radiation therapy (RT) is based on extrapolation from adult literature. We evaluated patterns of pediatric palliative RT to describe regimens used to identify opportunity for future pediatric-specific…
Importance: Early palliative care integration for cancer patients is now touted as the optimal care model, yet significant barriers often prevent its implementation. A perceived barrier, especially for pediatric oncology patients, is the notion that…
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review of published literature was to identify the number and focus of empirically based papers that included research methods used to directly solicit patient-reported outcomes (PRO) from pediatric oncology patients at…
Death from cancer is often painful. Usually, the pain can be relieved in ways that allow patients to remain awake and alert until the end. Sometimes, however, the only way to relieve pain is to sedate patients until they are unconscious. This method…
Communication between pediatric providers, patients, and their families is a key component of for children with serious illness, with broad implications for patient and family outcomes. Recommendations for effective and compassionate palliative…
BACKGROUND: Adolescent and young adult oncology (AYAO) patients often receive intensive medical care and experience significant symptoms at the end of life (EOL). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of AYAO patients aged 15-26…
OBJECTIVES: Fatigue is common among children living with cancer, particularly in advance stages. Little is known about the effectiveness of non-pharmacological approaches to manage this complex and distressing symptom among children. Thus, the…
AIM: Children with refractory or high-risk malignancies frequently suffer from poor quality of life during palliative care. This study explored the effect of metronomic drug administration on survival and quality of life in paediatric patients with…
Medical marijuana (MM) has become increasingly legal at the state level and accessible to children with serious illness. Pediatric patients with cancer may be particularly receptive to MM, given purported benefits in managing cancer-related symptoms.…
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 125 pediatric oncology patients who died in 2010-2014 to explore how healthcare utilization, pediatric palliative care (PPC) receipt, and end-of-life care (EOLC) differed between patients enrolled in early…
Providing end-of-life care to children with cancer is most ideally achieved by initiating palliative care at the time of diagnosis, advocating for supportive care throughout the treatment trajectory, and implementing hospice care during the terminal…
Children living with and dying from advanced cancer and their families experience significant suffering. The cure of disease and the relief of suffering are dual moral obligations of our professions. To relieve suffering, health care providers must…
Context: Although a large percentage of children with advanced-stage cancer die at home, remarkably little information is available regarding the experience of general practitioners (GPs) with respect to providing home-based palliative care to…
OBJECTIVE: This mixed-methods study set in the West Midlands region of the UK demonstrates the effectiveness of Q methodology in examining general practitioners' (GPs') perception of their role in children's oncology palliative care. METHODS: Using…
CONTEXT: Pediatric palliative care randomized controlled trials (PPC-RCTs) are uncommon. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility of conducting a PPC-RCT in pediatric cancer patients. METHODS: This was a cohort study embedded in the Pediatric Quality…
To review the qualitative literature on experiences of and preferences for end-of-life care of people with cancer aged 16-40 years (young adults) and their informal carers. A systematic review using narrative synthesis of qualitative studies using…
Approximately 2,200 children and adolescents die a cancer-related death each year in the United States; of these, almost 90% will die while experiencing 2 to 8 troubling symptoms. With improved symptom control and end-of-life care, these patients…
Purpose Cancer is the leading cause of nonaccidental death among adolescents and young adults (AYAs). High-intensity end-of-life care is expensive and may not be consistent with patient goals. However,the intensity of end-of-life care forAYAdecedents…
OBJECTIVE: Although support programs for children whose parents have cancer have been described and evaluated, formal research has not been conducted to document outcomes. We adapted a group intervention called CLIMB(R), originally developed in the…
BACKGROUND: Many adult patients with cancer who know they are dying choose less intense care; additionally, high-intensity care is associated with worse caregiver outcomes. Little is known about intensity of end-of-life care in children with cancer.…
