Psychosocial Assessment as a Standard of Care in Pediatric Cancer

Abstract

This paper presents the evidence for a standard of care for psychosocial assessment in pediatric cancer. An interdisciplinary group of investigators utilized EBSCO, PubMed, PsycINFO, Ovid, and Google Scholar search databases, focusing on five areas: youth/family psychosocial adjustment, family resources, family/social support, previous history/premorbid functioning, and family structure/function. Descriptive quantitative studies, systematic reviews, and meta‐analyses (n = 149) were reviewed and evaluated using grading of recommendations, assessment development, and evaluation (GRADE) criteria. There is high quality evidence to support a strong recommendation for multifaceted, systematic assessments of psychosocial health care needs of youth with cancer and their families as a standard of care in pediatric oncology. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Parental expectations of support from healthcare providers during pediatric life-threatening illness: A secondary, qualitative analysis

“…Other examples of support include creation of parent support-groups, connection to parents who offer to be sources of peer-support, and by creation of space in the parent-clinician relationship for family emotional triage at outpatient visits or during in-patient hospitalizations. Researchers point to the high level of distress experienced by children and their families during cancer treatment, emphasizing the importance of including family voice in routine psychosocial assessment (Kazak et al, 2015). In the midst of such distress, anticipatory guidance may be helpful, as well as support from their child’s healthcare providers, family, and social network (Madrigal et al, 2016; Zelcer, Cataudella, Cairney, & Bannister, 2010).…”

“…Multifaceted, systematic psychosocial assessments of youth and their families throughout the treatment continuum create a caring context for parents (Kazak et al, 2015) and assist in identifying adaptive and problematic reactions (Muscara et al, 2015). Such assessments are the building blocks of genuine relationships that are highly valued by parents.…”

Hope, distress, and later quality of life among adolescent and young adults with cancer

“…While comprehensive psychosocial care is a standard of patient-centered oncology, 4,5 evidence-based recommendations are still in development. 6 Many guidelines focus on screening for psychological distress; 7 however, individual tools may miss significant proportions of AYAs who would benefit from psychosocial services.…”

Problem‐solving skills, parent–adolescent communication, dyadic functioning, and distress among adolescents with cancer

“…As healthcare teams implement psychosocial assessment as a standard of care, 28 adolescent problem-solving skills are relevant to consider. Future studies with larger populations are warranted to replicate these findings and determine the effect of a problem-solving intervention on adolescent distress, parent-adolescent communication, and dyadic functioning.…”