Browsing by Author "Weaver, Meaghann S."

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    The Impact of Specialty Palliative Care in Pediatric Oncology: A Systematic Review
    (Elsevier, 2021) Kaye, Erica C.; Weaver, Meaghann S.; DeWitt, Leila Hamzi; Leila Hamzi, Elizabeth; Stevens, Sarah E.; Lukowski, Joe; Shih, Brandon; Zalud, Kristina; Applegarth, Jacob; Wong, Hong-Nei; Baker, Justin N.; Ullrich, Christina K.; AAHPM Research Commttee; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Context: Children with cancer and their families have complex needs related to symptoms, decision-making, care planning, and psychosocial impact extending across the illness trajectory, which for some includes end of life. Whether specialty pediatric palliative care (SPPC) is associated with improved outcomes for children with cancer and their families is unknown. Objective: We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines to investigate outcomes associated with SPPC in pediatric oncology with a focus on intervention delivery, collaboration, and alignment with National Quality Forum domains. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases from inception until April 2020 and reviewed references manually. Eligible articles were published in English, involved pediatric patients aged 0-18 years with cancer, and contained original data regarding patient and family illness and end-of-life experiences, including symptom management, communication, decision-making, quality of life, satisfaction, and healthcare utilization. Results: We screened 6682 article abstracts and 82 full-text articles; 32 studies met inclusion criteria, representing 15,635 unique children with cancer and 342 parents. Generally, children with cancer who received SPPC had improved symptom burden, pain control, and quality of life with decreased intensive procedures, increased completion of advance care planning and resuscitation status documentation, and fewer end-of-life intensive care stays with higher likelihood of dying at home. Family impact included satisfaction with SPPC and perception of improved communication. Conclusion: SPPC may improve illness experiences for children with cancer and their families. Multisite studies utilizing comparative effectiveness approaches and validated metrics may support further advancement of the field.
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    Thinking globally to improve care locally: A Delphi study protocol to achieve international clinical consensus on best-practice end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults with cancer
    (Public Library of Science, 2022-07-08) Sansom-Daly, Ursula M.; Wiener, Lori; Darlington, Anne-Sophie; Poort, Hanneke; Rosenberg, Abby R.; Weaver, Meaghann S.; Schulte, Fiona; Anazodo, Antoinette; Phillips, Celeste; Sue, Louise; Herbert, Anthony R.; Mack, Jennifer W.; Lindsay, Toni; Evans, Holly; Wakefield, Claire E.; Global Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Accord End-of-Life Study Group; School of Nursing
    For the sizeable subset of adolescents and young adults whose cancer is incurable, developmentally appropriate end-of-life discussions are critical. Standards of care for adolescent and young adult end-of-life communication have been established, however, many health-professionals do not feel confident leading these conversations, leaving gaps in the implementation of best-practice end-of-life communication. We present a protocol for a Delphi study informing the development and implementation of clinician training to strengthen health-professionals' capacity in end-of-life conversations. Our approach will inform training to address barriers to end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults across Westernized Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Global Accord countries. The Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Global Accord team involves 26 investigators from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Twenty-four consumers, including adolescents and young adults with cancer history and carers, informed study design. We describe methodology for a modified Delphi questionnaire. The questionnaire aims to determine optimal timing for end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults, practice-related content needed in clinician training for end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults, and desireability of evidence-based training models. Round 1 involves an expert panel of investigators identifying appropriate questionnaire items. Rounds 2 and 3 involve questionnaires of international multidisciplinary health-professionals, followed by further input by adolescents and young adults. A second stage of research will design health-professional training to support best-practice end-of-life communication. The outcomes of this iterative and participatory research will directly inform the implementation of best-practice end-of-life communication across Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Global Accord countries. Barriers and training preferences identified will directly contribute to developing clinician-training resources. Our results will provide a framework to support further investigating end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults across diverse countries. Our experiences also highlight effective methodology in undertaking highly collaborative global research.