Improving Communication Between Providers and Patients During Pediatric Cancer Care

The Listen First Survivorship project explores the communication barriers faced by young adults and their families during cancer treatment. The project focuses on identifying communication gaps and developing strategies to better support Jacob’s Heart's young adult cancer survivors. This project was implemented by Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services and Dr. Stephanie Smith of the Pediatric Oncology department at Stanford Children’s Hospital. The participants described feeling overwhelmed with too much information and not enough answers to their questions during their appointments. Through qualitative interviews and focus groups, key findings revealed that young adults experienced significant gaps in knowledge due to a lack of involvement in parent-clinician discussions, and that emotional distress, linguistic challenges, and cultural norms contributed to the avoidance of cancer-related conversations. As a result of the project, cancer survivors will be able to improve their quality of life after treatment and communicate more effectively during and post treatment. The project achieved its goal of identifying key communication barriers. However, it also highlighted the need for improved language support, cultural competency, and emotional support. Within the next year, Jacob's Heart and Stanford will continue to work together to develop a new program that will provide more support for cancer survivors at Jacob's Heart.