Background: The involvement of speech and language therapists (SLTs) within paediatric palliative care (PPC) settings has been recognized within the extant literature. However, there is little understanding of SLT's specific roles and practices when working with this vulnerable cohort of children and their families. As part of a larger body of…

Purpose: Globally, cancer represents an increasing proportion of child mortality as progress against infectious causes is made. Approximately 400,000 children will develop cancer, each year, around the world. Only about half of these cancers will ever be diagnosed. In high-resource settings, 80% of children will survive, but only about 30% will…

This brief report discusses an art therapy group for parents and caregivers of pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant patients at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Acknowledging the nuances of the caregiving experience, The Next Chapter uses altered bookmaking as a supportive intervention for parents and caregivers during inpatient…

Phase I trials aim to establish appropriate clinical and statistical parameters to guide future clinical trials. With individual trials typically underpowered, systematic reviews and meta-analysis are desired to assess the totality of evidence. A high percentage of zero or missing outcomes often complicate such efforts. We use a systematic review…

Children and adolescents with the genetic, tumor predisposition syndromeneurofibromatosis type I (NF1) have varying degrees of physical stigmata characteristic of the disease and experience high rates of social difficulties. The present study was the first to formally examine the rate (i.e., percentage of participants) and frequency of bullying…

Childhood cancer incidence is rising, affecting a growing proportion of elementary school students. For most of these children, school attendance can be limited by hospitalisations, treatments and side effects. However, little is yet known about the educational needs and experiences of this population. This phenomenological study explored the…

Most of the literature on paediatric oncology treatment has provided descriptions of children's everyday lives that are circumscribed to periods of hospitalisation. In this paper, I argue that the political and economic context where children receive oncology treatment as well as the particular trajectories of their families influence their…

This study analyzes informal learning, drawing on video recordings of staff-child interaction in a pediatric unit. It is shown that even very young patients engage in intent community participation, carefully noting fine variations in examination and treatment practices. They orient to everyday routines in successively more complex ways, gradually…

Studies examining medical teams indicate that exposure to the terminally ill often has detrimental effects on their physical and emotional well-being. However, recent theoretical developments suggest that this exposure might also have positive implications. The current study sought to examine 2 positive outcomes, meaning in life and personal…

The article offers an explanation of the effects of music on children within a hospital setting and points up the multifaceted nature of this experience. The nature of the client group allows the musical experience to work on many different levels, such as modifying the child's perception of pain and reducing stress, whilst at the same time having…

A method for assessing scientific performance based on relationships displayed numerically in published documents is proposed and illustrated using published documents in pediatric oncology for the period 1979-1982. Contributions of a major clinical investigations group, the Childrens Cancer Study Group, are analyzed. Twenty-nine references are…

We review research on the neuropsychological effects that central nervous system (CNS) cancer treatments have on the cognitive abilities of children and adolescents. The authors focus on the two most common malignancies of childhood: leukemias and brain tumors. The literature review is structured so as to separate out earlier studies, generally…

A description is provided of "Pediatric Oncology for Nurses," the first in a series of three courses offered to fourth-year nursing students in pediatric oncology. The first section provides a course overview, discusses time assignments, and describes the target student population. Next, a glossary of terms, and lists of course goals, long-range…