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The PRINCIPAL Network: A Model to Optimize Infection Care and Prevention in Pediatric Oncology in the Latin American
Miguela A Caniza1,2,3, Maysam R Homsi1, Milka Vázquez1
1Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.
Insights
A new Latin American network for pediatric cancer infection care and prevention (IC&P) was established to improve expertise and outcomes for immunocompromised children. This initiative fosters collaboration, education, and research, leading to improved quality of care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Global Health Networks
Background:
- Children with cancer face high risks for poor outcomes, particularly from infections.
- Healthcare providers often lack specialized knowledge in infection care and prevention (IC&P) for immunocompromised pediatric patients.
- A need exists for a community to share experiences, resources, and foster research in this field.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a collaborative network for infection care and prevention (IC&P) in pediatric oncology across Latin America.
- To enhance the expertise of the clinical workforce in IC&P for immunocompromised children.
- To foster continuing medical education, collaborative research, and quality improvement opportunities.
Main Methods:
- Co-designing the network's mission, vision, objectives, and values.
- Establishing a leadership and network management structure for uniformity and sustainability.
- Utilizing virtual meetings and strategic in-person gatherings for efficient collaboration.
Main Results:
- The network has achieved strong member participation and engagement.
- Members have accessed training in quality improvement, human subjects research, and IC&P.
- Network members are presenting work globally, with publications emerging, and inspiring similar networks in other regions.
Conclusions:
- A discipline-specific network structure effectively facilitates the sharing of evidence-based information.
- This network enhances the quality of care delivery in pediatric oncology.
- The model demonstrates the power of collaborative networks in improving specialized healthcare.
Purpose:
Children with cancer are at high risk for poor outcomes, and health care providers are often unfamiliar with best practices in infection care and prevention (IC&P) in this small and fragile population. Graduates of training courses in IC&P in immunocompromised hosts identified a need for a community that would enable members to share health care experiences, provide resources for continuing medical education, and foster collaborative research and quality improvement opportunities. We developed a Latin American network, Prevencionistas e Infectólogos para Cáncer Pediátrico en América Latina, to grow and sustain the expertise of the clinical workforce in IC&P. Here, we describe the network, how we built it, and its early outcomes.
Methods:
We began by codesigning the mission, vision, objectives, and values. We then established the structure for leadership and network management to provide a functional uniformity and sustainability. Virtual meetings with network members and strategic in-person gatherings optimized the use of the time and resources of the network.
Results:
The network has seen good participation by members and candidates for membership, who have provided feedback on case-based learning. Members have attended training sessions on quality improvement, research in human subjects, and IC&P in pediatric oncology at national and regional meetings and workshops. Network members have presented their work at regional and global meetings, and publications are beginning to emerge from this community. A direct effect of the Prevencionistas e Infectólogos para Cáncer Pediátrico en América Latina network has been the creation of a similar network for the Asia Pacific region, and a third network is being planned.
Conclusion:
We have demonstrated the power of a discipline-specific network structure to facilitate sharing of evidence-based information that enhances the quality-of-care delivery in pediatric oncology.
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