Quality of Communication in Pediatric Oncology (QCOM), Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Missouri, 2018-2020

For parents of pediatric oncology patients, high-quality communication supports peace of mind, hopefulness, trust in physicians, and feeling validated. In order to improve communication and understand how it functions between caregivers, patients, and clinicians, the research team interviewed 80 parents of children with cancer from three different academic centers, with interviews focusing on experiences with communication with medical team staff. They recruited participants across sites, child age at diagnosis, and time points (during treatment, post-treatment or survivorship, and bereavement). Interviews followed semi-structured interview guides and were analyzed using content analysis with consensus and individual coding.