Increasing Palliative Care Team Involvement in Pediatric Oncology Patients

Abstract

Background: Palliative care involvement with pediatric oncology patients improves quality of life and the likelihood of receiving goal-concordant end-of-life care. However, barriers to involvement exist. Between Jan 1, 2017 and Dec 31, 2018, the pediatric oncology department cared for 30 patients who died of refractory cancer with a 5-year event free survival (EFS) of 30 days prior to death occurred for 43%. This is less than the United States News and World Report benchmark of 75% for palliative care involvement >30 days prior to …