A National Analysis of the Palliative and Supportive Care Needs of Families whose Children Die from Cancer

Funded Activity Summary

Palliative and supportive care services for children dying from cancer are underdeveloped in the paediatric setting. There is an increasing awareness of the need for comprehensive care for these dying children and their families, however, there is a striking lack of evidence based literature on which to base paediatric palliaitive and supportive care models of care. This study is the first of its kind in the area of paediatric supportive and palliative care in Australia. This study will involve five Australian states (WA, SA, VIC, NSW and QLD). To answer these research questions, a retrospective study will be undertaken because of: a)the profound impact that caring for a dying child has on the family, b) the potential effects on parents of participating in research related to the care of their dying child, and c) it has been shown that research undertaken after-death is an important method for evaluation of the quality of palliative care. The study will provide broad and detailed description of the palliative and supportive care needs of families whose died from cancer, as well as the types of care that may be required. The study will therefore, address four research questions: 1. What are the supportive and palliative care needs of families of children who have died from cancer? 2. To what extent have the supportive care and palliative care needs of families been met in both the hospital and community settings? 3. How were the supportive and palliative care needs of families of children who died from cancer met? 4. What were the perceived barriers and facilitating factors associated with the supportive care and palliative care received by families whose children died from cancer? This study is the first phase of a four-phase research program that will culminate in the development and testing of models for the provision of palliative and supportive care for parents of children with life-limiting conditions.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $68,250.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Family Care

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Cancer | Children | Death in childhood | Family care | Family needs and support | Paediatric cancer | Palliative care | Supportive care

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