Abstracts Category : Other

The Barriers to and the Need for Palliative Care in Pediatric Oncology

by Holly M Tackett

While palliative care has gained significant attention in recent decades across health disciplines, palliative care services are still largely misunderstood and inadequate for pediatric oncology patients. This paper seeks to examine, through a review of the literature, the need for palliative care services, the barriers to achieving adequate services, and ways to improve provision of palliative care for children with cancer. Common barriers identified throughout the literature and discussed in this paper include uncertain prognosis, lack of health professional education, barriers to evidence-based practice, and the insufficient availability of services. This paper will also review The Comfort Shawl Project at the University of Florida College of Nursing and its impact on developing palliative care competencies in baccalaureate nursing students. The Comfort Shawl Project seeks to better palliative care education for nursing students through engagement in intergenerational activities and experiential learning. Participation in the project fosters understanding of the need for palliative care across all ages and healthcare settings in addition to highlighting current shortcomings in this area of practice. ( en )