Parental knowledge and views regarding palliative care for children with cancer in Greece
Introduction: Palliative care (PC) refers to interventions aimed to improve the quality of life (QoL) of children and their families by the prevention and relief of suffering. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowl- edge and views of parents of children with cancer regarding PC in Greece.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in a sam- ple of 100 parents of hospitalized children in oncology departments and a bone narrow transplant unit of two pediatric hospitals in Attica, from February to June 2021. The “Evaluating Supportive Care for Children” tool was used. Data analysis was performed with SPSS v.23.0. All tests were performed at a statistical significance level of p≤0,05.
Results: Only 19% of the participants know about PC while no one reports personal PC provision experience. Highest level of education and monthly income were statistically significantly correlated with the knowledge of PC, (p=0,040) and (p=0,036) respectively, and the positive parental attitude towards PC inclusion in the child’s care (p=0,013). The majority of parents rated the QoL of their children as good (46%) or very good (31%). Thirty two percent reported no or limited discussion with their child about their disease and treatment. Moreover, parents reported occurrence of pain in 95% of cases.
Conclusions: It is clear that Greek parents are unaware of PC, they overestimate their children’s QoL, and there is a noticeable lack of adequate discussion regarding cancer and its treatment between parents and their children. Parents should be more informed about PC.
Category: | Volume 62, Issue 3 |
Hits: | 189 Hits |
Created Date: | 24-11-2023 |
Authors: | Aikaterini Mavrougiannou , Eleni Evagelou , Eugenia Vlachou , Margarita Baka , Sophia Polychronopoulou , Ourania Govina , Konstantinos Petsios , Evangelos Dousis |