Information-sharing experiences of professionals looking after children with cancer: a qualitative exploration from a specialist paediatric oncology unit in India
- PMID: 35919241
- PMCID: PMC9300413
- DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2022.1399
Information-sharing experiences of professionals looking after children with cancer: a qualitative exploration from a specialist paediatric oncology unit in India
Abstract
Background: Childhood cancer often involves a long-term engagement of children and their parents with health services. During this journey, communications between professionals, parents and young people can be stressful for all the stakeholders. This study explores the communication preferences in paediatric oncology.
Objectives: The objective of the present exploratory qualitative study was to understand the views of professionals regarding information exchange during cancer treatment of children and complement these findings with clinic-based ethnographic observation of real-life consultations.
Methods: Using qualitative methods, in-depth interviews were conducted with paediatric oncology professionals. The interviews had been audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Alongside in-depth interviews, real-life interactions between parents, professionals and children were observed. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis framework as suggested by Braun and Clark.
Results: Paediatric oncology professionals (n = 14) were interviewed from diverse professional backgrounds that included consultant paediatric oncologists, junior specialist trainees in paediatric oncology, paediatric oncology nurses, social workers, survivor counsellor and psychologists looking after children with cancer. Additionally, clinic-based ethnographic observations (n = 10) of interactions between professionals, parents and young people were also conducted. The following themes emerged from the interviews: a) Information needs of children were very different from adolescents. Children were more worried about 'here and now'; b) adolescents were, on the other hand, mostly worried about the 'impact of cancer on their broader life, friendships and academics'; c) parents were curious about the outcome, costs and effectiveness of treatment, and different patterns emerged for mothers and fathers; d) information needs were dynamic and different at the start of the treatment, during treatment, at remission or end of life; e) the journey of the clinicians themselves impacted information-sharing practices; and f) direct observation of consultations highlighted the importance of priming parents before delivery of information, having multiple family members during the conversation and managing intense emotions expressed during the session.
Conclusion: Paediatric oncology professionals need to be sensitive about the dynamic nature of information needs while interacting with children and parents of children with cancer. The above findings may help tailor the discussions that professionals ought to have with families with a child with cancer. The results may contribute to the understanding as well as to developing training courses on communications in paediatric oncology for low- and middle-income countries.
Keywords: cancer; children; communication; health professionals; oncology; paediatric.
© the authors; licensee ecancermedicalscience.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest.
Figures
Similar articles
-
The role of 'familiarity' and 'normality' in supporting transition to end of life care in paediatric oncology: A qualitative study.J Adv Nurs. 2025 Mar;81(3):1423-1436. doi: 10.1111/jan.16323. Epub 2024 Jul 13. J Adv Nurs. 2025. PMID: 39001668 Free PMC article.
-
Survivor and parent engagement in childhood cancer treatment in Iran.Ecancermedicalscience. 2021 Apr 19;15:1220. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2021.1220. eCollection 2021. Ecancermedicalscience. 2021. PMID: 34158824 Free PMC article.
-
Promoting and supporting self-management for adults living in the community with physical chronic illness: A systematic review of the effectiveness and meaningfulness of the patient-practitioner encounter.JBI Libr Syst Rev. 2009;7(13):492-582. doi: 10.11124/01938924-200907130-00001. JBI Libr Syst Rev. 2009. PMID: 27819974
-
Palliative Care in Paediatric Oncology: an Update.Curr Oncol Rep. 2022 Feb;24(2):175-186. doi: 10.1007/s11912-021-01170-3. Epub 2022 Jan 21. Curr Oncol Rep. 2022. PMID: 35061195 Free PMC article. Review.
-
What do you need to learn in paediatric psycho-oncology?Ecancermedicalscience. 2019 Mar 28;13:916. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2019.916. eCollection 2019. Ecancermedicalscience. 2019. PMID: 31123499 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Pioneering psycho-oncology: A collaborative journey for medical and psychology students at ecancer-Tata Medical Center Kolkata Psycho-oncology Congress 2024.Ecancermedicalscience. 2025 Jan 17;19:1828. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2025.1828. eCollection 2025. Ecancermedicalscience. 2025. PMID: 40177146 Free PMC article.
-
Nurses' perceptions of compassionate care in pediatric oncology: a qualitative interview study.BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Oct 2;24(1):1165. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11661-1. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024. PMID: 39358740 Free PMC article.
-
Children with cancer: Are we healing the body & missing the mind?Indian J Med Res. 2023 Oct 1;158(4):327-329. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_1870_23. Epub 2023 Sep 25. Indian J Med Res. 2023. PMID: 37929353 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
References
-
- World Health Organization: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Data visualization tools for exploring the global cancer burden in 2020. 2020. [10/01/21]. [Internet] http://gco.iarc.fr/today/home.
-
- Gupta S, Howard SC, Hunger SP, et al. Disease Control Priorities. 3rd. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2015. Treating childhood cancer in low- and middle-income countries; pp. 121–146. [Internet] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK343626/ - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources