Widening Access; Developing an eLearning Resource for Health and Social Care Professionals Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer

Abstract

Cancer is a key priority worldwide, and caring for children and young people with cancer requires a range of specific knowledge, skills and experience in order to deliver the complex care regimes both within the hospital or community environment. The aim of this paper is to disseminate work undertaken to design and develop pedagogical practice and innovation through an eLearning resource for health care professionals caring for children and young people with cancer across the globe. The work undertaken evaluated an existing cancer course (which has been withdrawn) that was developed and delivered through the Paediatric Oncology Nurses Forum, Royal College Nursing (Nurse Educators) and Warwick University. The evaluation consisted of 26 open and closed questions relating to the previous resource and was circulated to all health and social care professionals involved directly within specialist oncology services through the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group. Questionnaires were sent out to a convenience sample of 773 health care professionals and the response rate was 14%. The findings identified that the course was predominantly accessed by nurses, but other health care professionals also found it useful. Participants highlighted several areas where they believed content could be developed or was lacking. This included areas such as palliative and end of life care, nutrition, sepsis and teenagers and young people. This feedback was then used to develop a site dedicated to the care of children and young people with cancer.

Healthcare Professional and Service User Perspectives on Formal Educational Programmes for Children and Young People with Cancer in the UK

“…It is clear from this study that healthcare professionals working within this specialist area of care welcome resources to enable them to provide the best possible care for children and young people with cancer and their families. However, although not a comparative study, it was evident that education and training varies and is inconsistent across the UK [9][10][11]17]. For those working in these areas, they appreciated that they needed to be prepared both educationally and practically hence required the knowledge and skill set to care efficiently and effectively for this patient group and their families.…”

“…Questions were formulated to determine characteristics of the population, speciality and level of education around what they perceived was missing. The structure and style of the questionnaire was based on previous work undertaken by the researchers [10] and using a web-based survey software tool hosted by the University to enable collation of data from participants. The survey opened on 5 February and closed on 13 June 2017, and potential participants received two reminders before the closing date.…”

“…With the advances in treatment, increasing survival rates, there is a need for more expert specialist care. Current education and training provision for all levels of cancer care within the UK is varied and fragmented [9][10][11]. As the speciality grows, healthcare professionals have been keen to learn new knowledge and skills, but this has not translated to access to educational-accredited programmes.…”

The care for oncologic patients undergoing pediatric palliative care and the griefs of a health team

“…Guided by the logic of prolonging life, the qualification of care for children with cancer is marked by the lack of specialized services for this audience, due to inconsistencies in training courses and consequent delayed performance. The absence of specific knowledge and previous experiences can also compromise the care of children with cancer and specialized health care in the process of terminality during childhood, thus prolonging the dying process and not the opportunity to live (6)(7)(8) .…”

Patient Empowerment on the Fight Against Malnutrition

“…Various initiatives have already been undertaken by expert societies targeting a better medical curriculum, which will most likely improve doctor awareness of nutrition problems . Thus, in the long run doctors will be able to routinely carry out nutrition screening and assessment of their patients, facilitating the next step, which is intervention.…”