Sean Lybrand, Executive Director, Access to Healthcare at Amgen, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Family-centered care: The missing piece in childhood cancer?
The provocative title of our oped on the eve of our session hosted by Devex on 20 May, 11.30 AM – 12.30 PM at the Intercontinental Hotel Geneva.
Thanks to my coauthors, Associate Professor Emily Smith at Duke University and Dr Dylan Graetz from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, for the collaboration on an article that gets to the heart of childhood cancer care – the child living with cancer, and the family and caregivers that support them.
Childhood cancer is a full-contact activity – it comes without warning, it significantly disrupts a family’s stability and wellbeing, and has direct and indirect impacts everyone in that family.
Often parents feel guilt or blame for the cancer. No childhood cancer is a simple issue to address, as there are so many more aspects than the cancer itself. Living in a low-resource setting only exacerbates the complexities of diagnosis, access to treatment, and care. Psychosocial support should be central to holistic cancer care, and yet in such settings it may be limited or absent.
Our oped – and our session tomorrow – argue for a world where psychosocial care is central to the management of wellness in cancer, regardless of the setting. It’s a journey for every centre where care is provided, but it can start somewhere. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital builds it into their programs of care, our collaboration with World Child Cancer is supporting families and kids with cancer, and many other places do what they can to build comprehensive support too.
Let’s do what we can to ensure that families and children – regardless of geography or income – can receive compassionate, family-centred care.”
Title: Family-centered care: The missing piece in childhood cancer
Authors: Emily Smith, Dr. Dylan Graetz, Sean Lybrand
Other articles featuring Sean Lybrand on OncoDaily.