Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2025
Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
The current state and future direction of childcare for cancer patients: a narrative review
Hasiya Yusuf1, Abhishek Kumar2
1Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Jacobi Medical Center, Building 1, 3N20, 1400 Pelham Parkway S, Bronx, NY, USA.
Insights
Parents with cancer face significant childcare challenges, leading to missed treatments. Limited support exists, with only one U.S. center offering childcare, highlighting a critical unmet need for cancer patient families.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pediatric Oncology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- One in four cancer patients are parents of dependent children, requiring childcare support for treatment.
- Existing childcare services are insufficient for cancer patients, impacting treatment adherence and outcomes.
- The financial, time, and physical burdens of cancer exacerbate childcare challenges for parents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current state of childcare services for parents diagnosed with cancer.
- To identify strategies for addressing the gap in childcare support for this population.
- To highlight the unmet needs and potential solutions for childcare assistance.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase.
- 77 English-language studies published between January 1990 and May 2024 were included.
- The review synthesized findings on childcare services for parents with cancer.
Main Results:
- Cancer patients with children frequently miss appointments and experience treatment delays due to childcare issues.
- Financial toxicity, time constraints, and complex treatment needs further complicate childcare access.
- The U.S. has only one known cancer-center-linked childcare program, indicating a severe service gap.
Conclusions:
- Non-traditional childcare solutions, including home-based and hospital-based options, are needed.
- Financial assistance from medical institutions, insurers, and government programs can help bridge the gap.
- Addressing childcare needs is crucial for improving treatment adherence and outcomes for parents with cancer.
Purpose:
One in four patients diagnosed with cancer are parents to dependent children. For these patients, childcare services are needed to overcome the time demands of cancer treatment. Despite the childcare support needs and its potential impact on treatment outcomes, targeted childcare services for cancer patients remain limited. This review highlights the state of childcare services and strategies to address the current chasm in childcare for parents diagnosed with cancer.
Methods:
A comprehensive search of PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase was conducted and 77 studies in the English Language on Childcare services for parents with cancer published between January 1990 and May 2024 were identified and reviewed.
Findings:
The burden of cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment imposes physical, psychological, financial, and time constraints on cancer patients with young dependents. Many cancer patients with children miss treatment appointments and encounter treatment delays due to challenges with childcare. Limited access to childcare is further exacerbated by the financial and time toxicities of cancer and unconventional treatment needs such as emergency department visits, fatigue, and other complications of cancer treatment. So far, only one cancer-center-linked childcare program exists in the U.S., highlighting the scale of unmet need for childcare support in cancer patients.
Conclusion:
and relevance. Providing non-traditional childcare services, home-based or hospital-based childcare structures, and financial assistance through medical institutions, professional organizations, insurance payers, and government-funded programs could bridge the current gap in childcare needs for parents with a cancer diagnosis.
Related Concept Videos
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
01:21Cancer Survival Analysis
01:27Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
02:18Cancer
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-I
Daycare centers
They provide several functions. Some facilities care for healthy newborns and children whose parents work, while others are medically focused and care for...
02:57Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...