Early intervention for infants and toddlers: Applications for pediatric oncology

Abstract

Young children (<3 years) with cancer are at risk for delays in development due to their disease and its required treatments and restrictions. In the United States, Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act describes a system of early intervention (EI) services for young children with delays or the potential for delays in development. Children with cancer may be eligible for EI but are rarely referred. Our objectives are to describe the critical impact of early childhood development on long-term outcomes, review current considerations for EI, and advocate for the referral to EI for young children with cancer.

Establishing a hospital-based early intervention program for young children with cancer: A quality improvement initiative.

“…Most patients served by St. Jude’s ECC in its current state (described throughout this article) needed some arrangement of early intervention rehabilitation services at the time of clinic entry, with developmental goals and intervention planning often changing during medical treatment. This is unsurprising to the team as we know that, in addition to the direct impact diagnosis and treatment might have, young patients undergoing cancer-directed treatment often miss exposure to and experiences with a multitude of activities known to promote development (Harman et al, 2018). Indeed, that is why the provision of developmental psychoeducation to all new oncology patients who receive developmental screening services regardless of the results of that screening is planned for our next intervention.…”

Psychosocial Functioning of Young Children Treated for Cancer: Findings From a Clinical Sample

“…Consistent with the mandate outlined in the Standards of Psychosocial Care for Children With Cancer and Their Families (Kazak et al, 2015), these findings highlight the need for continued longitudinal assessment of young children, and those identified as having difficulties would likely benefit from targeted psychosocial intervention. Harman, Wise, and Willard (2018) recently published a call for early intervention services for young children with cancer, given that early childhood experiences pave the way for optimal development across the life span. They provide specific recommendations that all children with cancer younger than 3 years be evaluated with intervention services tailored based on the individual needs of the child and the natural environment at the time (i.e., hospital- or clinic-based services vs. local services).…”

Social skills interventions for survivors of pediatric brain tumors: A review and reformulation

“…More specifically, if efforts could ensure frequent and structured opportunities for social interaction while children are undergoing treatment, some peer‐related deficits could potentially be mitigated. Such an approach may be particularly valuable for children of preschool age who are missing opportunities to develop and practice their social–emotional skills due to their treatment and subsequent removal from the typical environments of childhood (e.g., school, daycare, and playgrounds) . Further, such approaches could explore the option of being tied to medical treatment protocols and thus focus on a more homogenous group of patients.…”