Care and support needs of children and young people with cancer and their parents

SUMMARY
The importance of psychosocial support services for children with cancer and their families is recognised but
evaluation of such services is less well developed with little information available about different patterns of
provision. This paper provides an overview of psychosocial support children and their families in the UK receive
during and after treatment. It reports the results of a postal survey of 303 families, within which parents and children
identified their satisfaction with support services and also areas of unmet need. Satisfaction was identified in a range
of areas, including medical information and support from nurses and social workers. However, areas of unmet need
were also highlighted, especially age appropriate facilities, emotional support and information in different formats.
Although British government policy currently seeks to develop standards and guidelines of care throughout the
National Health Service, this paper demonstrates that there is still a need to develop psychosocial support services
and work towards recently established guidelines in order to ensure that families receive flexible but equitable
packages of care and support, wherever treatment is received.