The hours and days after hospital discharge can be overwhelming. Now, askMDAnderson is ensuring cancer patients and caregivers get the help they need when they need it.
Annual Report 2019 : Improving communication with parents of pediatric cancer patients
Improving communication with parents of pediatric cancer patients
When pediatric cancer patients have a challenging diagnosis, it’s important for doctors and nurses to discuss treatment options and goals with their parents. A conversation guide and visual aids developed by Karen Moody, M.D., are designed to improve these conversations.
Karen Moody, M.D., is co-developer of a conversation guide that helps medical professionals explain treatment options to pediatric patients and their parents. Photo by Wyatt McSpadden
What’s the best way to communicate with parents of pediatric cancer patients who have a particularly challenging diagnosis? Karen Moody, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics, and colleagues have developed a conversation guide and visual aids designed to help pediatric oncologists and nurses discuss treatment options and goals with parents of children facing a poor prognosis.
“We found that patients had less pain and emotional distress, and parents felt less uncertain about the future and more hopeful when they were completely informed about their treatment options and knew what to expect during treatment,” says Moody, who leads the Pediatric Integrative Medicine and Supportive Care program at MD Anderson.
Team approach helps parents set realistic cancer care goals
The program hosts weekly meetings attended by oncologists, palliative care and cancer pain specialists, child life specialists, integrative medicine and creative arts therapists, ethicists, social work counselors, psychologists, and nurses. This multidisciplinary team helps parents identify their values and those of their child and set realistic goals for care that align with those values.
“Every patient’s needs are different, and we see patients from a variety of backgrounds and cultures,” says Moody. “To ensure each family receives the support they need, it’s necessary for the entire team to be aligned with the family.”
Music therapy, yoga or creating art through MD Anderson’s Arts in Medicine Program takes some children’s minds off treatment. Others may focus on a lifestyle-based approach involving diet and exercise.
“It’s important for families to know there are options for them,” Moody says. “I find that patients feel less anxious when they understand what those options are, and when we can help incorporate specific supportive services into their care.”
It’s important for families to know there are options for them.
A model to help other physicians
The conversation guide, developed by Moody in collaboration with registered nurses Joan Haase, Ph.D., of Indiana University, and Verna Hendricks-Ferguson, Ph.D., of St. Louis University, will soon be tested at MD Anderson and five other hospitals, with support from a National Cancer Institute grant.
The guide was recently pilot-tested with success at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.
“We’re hoping our guide will serve as a model for pediatric supportive care programs around the country,” says Moody.
“I envision it being a pocket tool physicians can use to better explain treatment options to patients and their families, and to help them pivot to the appropriate care when needed.”
Request an appointment at MD Anderson online or by calling 1-877-632-6789.
More Stories From Annual Report
Back in the game after a brain tumor in the bladder
An unusual diagnosis of a brain tumor in the bladder was no match for the treatment planned by MD Anderson’s experts – or for University of Oklahoma soccer player Jazzy Richards.
Personalized computer models help get pelvic cancer patients back on their feet
A new research collaboration is exploring personalized options for pelvic cancer surgery.
New clinic expands brain metastasis treatment options
MD Anderson’s Brain Metastases Clinic is streamlining treatment and offering more options for patients with brain tumors that are notoriously difficult to treat.
Cancer caregivers find connection, comfort in support groups
Caring for a loved one with cancer can pose unique challenges. Support groups for caregivers are giving caregivers a voice – and a chance to connect with others going through the same thing.
Collaborative approach yields better prostate cancer treatment
What happens when men receive prostate cancer treatment from multidisciplinary clinics? New research shows they’re more likely to receive better treatment and to have a voice in their care.
Tech sessions help bridge the digital divide for older patients
Technology can play a vital role in managing health care online. But apps, social media and other online activities can be intimidating for some older cancer patients and caregivers. That’s where technology help sessions offered at MD Anderson come in.
For pancreatic cancer researcher, ending cancer is personal
After losing her mother to pancreatic cancer at age 55, Florencia McAllister, M.D., is driven to find new ways to treat and diagnose the disease.
Volunteers support cancer patients and staff at Houston-area locations
A small but mighty team of volunteers plays a vital role in supporting cancer patients and caregivers at MD Anderson’s locations in League City, The Woodlands, Sugar Land and West Houston.
A new approach to monitoring blood transfusion patients
MD Anderson’s first-of-its kind Hemovigilance Unit is enabling care teams to virtually monitor cancer patients before, during and after a blood transfusion. That means quicker detection, response to and prevention of blood transfusion reactions.
When the mentee becomes the mentor
Van Morris, M.D., benefited from the guidance of others. Now he does the mentoring.
Tobacco Treatment Program helps cancer patients quit smoking
For cancer patients who smoke, quitting tobacco can make treatment more effective and improve the chances of survival by 30% to 40%. Enrollment in MD Anderson’s Tobacco Treatment Program can make an even bigger difference, increasing participants’ chances of quitting successfully.
Training Puerto Rican students to become physician-scientists
A unique collaboration is giving medical students from Puerto Rico the opportunity to receive mentoring and training at MD Anderson as they work toward becoming physician-scientists. By closing the gap in research, education and training, the program seeks to eliminate cancer health disparities in under-served populations in Puerto Rico and Texas.
Ovarian cancer and thymoma diagnoses lead newlyweds to fertility treatment
Newlyweds Lauren O’Malley and Jake Woodward have both undergone cancer treatment – for ovarian cancer and thymoma respectively. But before they started their treatments, the couple worked with MD Anderson fertility specialists.
Program provides forum for input from patients and their families
Toni Vasquez Jordan’s experience as a breast cancer survivor has provided valuable insight for Ishwaria Subbiah, M.D., as she develops clinical trials and develops ways to enhance patient care.
With CAR NK therapy clinical trial, natural killer cells live up to their ominous name
An experimental treatment called CAR NK therapy finally helped B-cell lymphoma patient JC Cox overcome cancer after years of trying different options. Now, researchers are exploring how to expand this treatment to more cancer patients and cancer types.
Cancer innovators band together to make music
By day, members of Checkmates are working to end cancer. But by night, this band of musicians that includes Nobel Prize-winning researcher Jim Allison, Ph.D., lets loose by jamming and performing together.
TIL therapy offers new cervical cancer treatment option
A type of immunotherapy called TIL therapy uses T cells from the tumor itself to fight cancer. And it’s showing promise for treating a growing number of cancers, including cervical cancer.
FAST clinic gives anaplastic thyroid cancer patients hope – and time
Historically, anaplastic thyroid cancer patients have had few treatment options, and those that existed often came too late. But MD Anderson’s FAST clinic is speeding up the start of treatment for this aggressive cancer – and giving patients new treatment options, including clinical trials.