Clinician and parent perspectives on essential psychosocial care in pediatric cancer

Clinician and parent perspectives on essential psychosocial care in pediatric cancer
JAMA Pediatrics; by Kimberly S. Canter, Anne E. Kazak, Natalie Koskela-Staples, Michele A. Scialla, Kimberly Buff, Emily Pariseau, Victoria A. Sardi-Brown, Julia B. Tager, Lori Wiener; 10/25
The Standards for Psychosocial Care for Children With Cancer and Their Families provide guidelines for evidence-based psychosocial care for children with cancer and their families. The Implementing the Standards Together: Engaging Parents and Providers in Psychosocial Care (iSTEPPP) study extends the standards through innovative collaborative research between clinicians and patient and family advocates, with the goal of widespread clinical implementation of standards that clinicians and parents or caregivers agree to be priorities. The 3 standards prioritized by parents and clinicians in this study offer insight into shared priorities for psychosocial care in pediatric cancer. However, misalignment on other priority standards (parental mental health, palliative care, and neurocognitive monitoring) highlights the differences in perception between parents and clinicians. Areas lacking agreement are a stark reminder of potential challenges when working to meet the holistic needs of children with chronic diseases and their families, as clinicians and parents may not agree on which needs are most important.