BACKGROUND: Advanced childhood cancer, a condition with no available cancer-focused treatment options, greatly impacts Quality of Life (QoL). We need appropriate assessment strategies to select adapted treatment targets, improve care and optimize…
Objectives 1. Describe the concept of hope based on perspectives of AYAs who experienced advanced cancer. 2. Differentiate the role hope has for AYAs before, during, and after experiencing cancer. Context In clinical care, addressing patients’ hopes…
CONTEXT: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) improves quality of life and end-of-life outcomes for children with cancer, but often occurs late in the disease course. The Supportive Care Clinic (SCC) was launched in 2017 to expand outpatient PPC access.…
BACKGROUND: Recurrent or refractory cancer often results in substantial and extensive physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual burdens for children and their families. However, the therapeutic benefits of legacy interventions in children with…
CONTEXT: Approximately 40%-60% of deaths in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are in the context of de-escalation of life-sustaining treatments (LSTs), including compassionate extubation, withdrawal of vasopressors, or other LSTs. Suffering at…
Background The Pediatric Quality of Life and Evaluation of Symptoms Technology Response to Pediatric Oncology Symptom Experience (PQ-Response) intervention aims to integrate specialized pediatric palliative care into the routine care of children,…
BACKGROUND: There is insufficient knowledge available about the impact of paediatric palliative care at home on meeting family needs and ensuring the highest quality of care for the dying child. The aim of this study was to elucidate parents'…
MyPal is a European initiative focusing on the use of the electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) measures to enhance patient engagement in palliative cancer care via digital self-reporting palliative care for patients with cancer. As a part of…
AIM: To identify barriers in the understanding and provision of optimal palliative care to Aboriginal children with cancer by health-care staff, with the aim to support education and training that highlights the importance of cultural, physical and…
OBJECTIVE: Having a child with cancer is a burdensome experience for parents. Nurses need to better understand beliefs, hopes, and values of parents to holistically support them, which may have an impact on grief and depression. Thus, the aim of this…
BACKGROUND: Disparities in end-of-life (EOL) care for children with cancer remain understudied. We addressed this gap by examining patterns of EOL care, with a focus on location of death and hospice utilization. METHODS: We used MarketScan - a…
Background: Evidence shows that medical education includes a variety of basic and clinical skills. Ethical and human values are not typically considered in medical school curricula, and this is evident in medical practice in certain scenarios such as…
Outcomes: 1. Explain the impact of specialized palliative care on reducing high-intensity end-of-life care in adolescents and young adults with cancer 2. Identify subpopulations among adolescents and young adults with cancer who are at highest risk…
This study aimed to explore and provide an in-depth insight into the experience and perceptions of parents to children with cancer at the end of life (EOL). A sample of 15 parents of children (aged 2-18) with cancer participated in semi-structured…
BACKGROUND: Social workers (SWs) and chaplains are trained to support families facing challenges associated with critical illness and potential end-of-life issues. Little is known about how parents view SW/chaplain involvement in care for critically…
The effect of pediatric advance care planning (pACP) on the sustainability of end-of-life treatment preference congruence between adolescents with cancer and their families has not been examined.To evaluate the longitudinal efficacy of the…
Background/Objective: Compared to existing studies on end-of-life care of mid- to older-aged patients diagnosed with cancer, there is a paucity of research on adolescents and young adult (AYA) patients. Guided by the Anderson's Behavioral Model for…
Objective: To synthesize existing qualitative research exploring the experiences of parents caring for children with cancer during the end-of-life phase, and the factors that influence parental decision-making when choosing the location of…
PURPOSE: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer have high rates of hospital deaths. It is not clear if this reflects their preferences or barriers to dying at home. METHODS: Between December 2018 and January 2021, we conducted in-depth…
Introduction: The experience of bereavement is associated with severe physical, psychological, social and spiritual reactions in the parents of children with cancer. Because of that, the families of these children need to receive bereavement…
Context: Children, adolescents and young adults with cancer continue to experience significant symptom suffering throughout their illness. Objective(s): To identify barriers to effective symptom management in pediatric advanced cancer. Method(s):…
BACKGROUND: Professional education pertaining to end-of-life care with pediatric oncology patients is limited. Pediatric trainees learn about end-of-life conversations largely from the provider's perspective. Bereaved parents can inform the education…
Outcomes: 1. Compare and contrast perspectives of multidisciplinary providers in regard to an embedded model of pediatric palliative care (PC) in routine cancer care 2. Propose an embedded PC model of care in the learner's own practice setting…
CONTEXT: Integration of palliative care (PC) into pediatric cancer care is considered best practice by national oncology and pediatric organizations. Optimal strategies for PC integration remain understudied, although growing evidence suggests that…
For the sizeable subset of adolescents and young adults whose cancer is incurable, developmentally appropriate end-of-life discussions are critical. Standards of care for adolescent and young adult end-of-life communication have been established,…
Purpose: High-quality communication is a standard of palliative care for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. Yet, few studies have characterized the negative communication experiences of AYAs near the end of life (EOL). Method(s): We…
BACKGROUND: Children with advanced cancer have access to comprehensive cancer care and hospice care if they enroll in concurrent hospice care. However, little is known about the patterns of nonhospice healthcare services used by these children.…
BACKGROUND: Although advance care planning (ACP) has been widely recommended to support patient and family engagement in understanding the patient's values, preferences and goals of care, there are only a few models in paediatric oncology that…
BACKGROUND: Providing access to pediatric palliative care (PPC) for children living with a serious illness, such as cancer, is of critical importance, although this specialized intervention, as a novel concept, still seems vague and complicated. The…
INTRODUCTION: Palliative Care Australia suggests current needs (emotional wellbeing, understanding of cancers impact on relationships, everyday activities, and life milestones) for adolescent and young adults in palliative care are unmet due to a…
