Care and support needs of children and young people with cancer and their parents

TY - JOUR

T1 - Care and support needs of children and young people with cancer and their parents

AU - Mitchell, W

AU - Clarke, S

AU - Sloper, P

PY - 2006/9

Y1 - 2006/9

N2 - The importance of psychosocial support services for children with cancer and their families is recognised but evaluation of such services is less well developed with little information available about different patterns of provision. This paper provides an overview of psychosocial support children and their families in the UK receive during and after treatment. It reports the results of a postal survey of 303 families, within which parents and children identified their satisfaction with support services and also areas of unmet need. Satisfaction was identified in a range of areas, including medical information and support from nurses and social workers. However, areas of unmet need were also highlighted, especially age appropriate facilities, emotional support and information in different formats. Although British government policy currently seeks to develop standards and guidelines or care throughout the National Health Service, this paper demonstrates that there is still a need to develop psychosocial support services and work towards recently established guidelines in order to ensure that families receive flexible but equitable packages of care and support, wherever treatment is received. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AB - The importance of psychosocial support services for children with cancer and their families is recognised but evaluation of such services is less well developed with little information available about different patterns of provision. This paper provides an overview of psychosocial support children and their families in the UK receive during and after treatment. It reports the results of a postal survey of 303 families, within which parents and children identified their satisfaction with support services and also areas of unmet need. Satisfaction was identified in a range of areas, including medical information and support from nurses and social workers. However, areas of unmet need were also highlighted, especially age appropriate facilities, emotional support and information in different formats. Although British government policy currently seeks to develop standards and guidelines or care throughout the National Health Service, this paper demonstrates that there is still a need to develop psychosocial support services and work towards recently established guidelines in order to ensure that families receive flexible but equitable packages of care and support, wherever treatment is received. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

KW - childhood cancer

KW - paediatric oncology

KW - children and young people

KW - psychosocial support

KW - family support

KW - QUALITY-OF-LIFE

KW - SURVIVING CANCER

KW - CHILDHOOD-CANCER

KW - FAMILIES

KW - ADJUSTMENT

KW - PREDICTORS

KW - ISSUES

U2 - 10.1002/pon.1014

DO - 10.1002/pon.1014

M3 - Article

VL - 15

SP - 805

EP - 816

JO - Psycho-Oncology

JF - Psycho-Oncology

IS - 9

ER -