Pediatric psycho-oncology care: standards, guidelines, and consensus reports.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Oncology
• Psycho-Oncology
• Healthcare Standards

Background:

• Psychosocial care is crucial for children with cancer.
• Standardized care can improve outcomes and create replicable models.
• Identifying gaps in current standards is essential for developing better guidelines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify existing guidelines, standards, or consensus-based reports for psychosocial care of children with cancer.
• To determine gaps in current pediatric psycho-oncology standards.

Main Methods:

• Searched MEDLINE and PubMed databases for relevant literature.
• Included peer-reviewed articles published between 1980 and 2013.
• Focused on guidelines, consensus reports, and standards for pediatric cancer psychosocial care.

Main Results:

• Located 27 articles meeting inclusion criteria (5 standards, 19 guidelines, 3 consensus reports).
• None of the identified resources were sufficiently up-to-date, comprehensive, specific, or evidence-based.
• Significant gaps exist in current standards for psychosocial care in pediatric oncology.

Conclusions:

• Despite recognized need, a comprehensive, evidence-based standard for psychosocial care is lacking.
• Development of a widely acceptable standard is required to guide essential psychosocial services.
• Further research and consensus-building are necessary to establish robust standards.