Building a psychosocial and spiritual care service for children with cancer and their families

Background: Comprehensive, coordinated psychosocial, supportive and spiritual care is an essential component of the holistic care of childhood cancer sufferers and their families.Aim: The authors detail the development and value of a multidisciplinary psychosocial care team as an essential adjunct t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:SA journal of oncology 2019-01, Vol.3 (1), p.1-8
Main Authors: Pedersen, Lynn, Balagadde-Kambugu, Joyce, Steenveld, Clint M., Rackstraw, Angela, Thompson, Vanessa, Van Eyssen, Ann, Hendricks, Marc, Farlam, Peter, Davidson, Alan, Burger, Dianne R., Hendricks, Shehaam, Kahl, Gisela, Andrade, Anabela, Meiring, Michelle A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cancer
Cancer therapies
Care and treatment
Chemotherapy
Childhood cancer
Children
Children & youth
Clinical psychology
Diagnosis
Domestic violence
Families & family life
Family
Family relations
Hematology
HIV
Hospice care
Hospitals
Internet
Malnutrition
Management
Medical care
Medical prognosis
Methamphetamine
Oncology
Pain
Palliative care
Parents & parenting
Patients
Pediatrics
Philosophy
Poverty
psychosocial support
public-private partnership
Sickle cell anemia
Social workers
Spirituality
Teachers
Tuberculosis
Violence
Workers
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Summary:Background: Comprehensive, coordinated psychosocial, supportive and spiritual care is an essential component of the holistic care of childhood cancer sufferers and their families.Aim: The authors detail the development and value of a multidisciplinary psychosocial care team as an essential adjunct to care of childhood cancer sufferers.Methods: A historic preamble details a period during which psychosocial and supportive care was the sole province of the paediatric oncologists and social workers and describes that the process of creating a multidisciplinary psychosocial and spiritual care team has enhanced medical care.Results: Each member of the psychosocial group describes their care philosophy and their role in the clinical setting. We also describe the critical role of the meeting as a teaching vehicle for oncology fellows.Conclusion: This reproducible partnership between public and private sector practitioners, designed in a resource-constrained setting, affords a diverse and highly skilled group of professionals the opportunity to meet the medical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients and families as they transition through the care journey.
ISSN:2518-8704
2518-8704
DOI:10.4102/sajo.v3i0.52