Teamwork in Paediatric Oncology: Excellent care through parental involvement

Teamwork in Paediatric Oncology: Excellent care through parental involvement

Sarri, T.

Kleinsmann, M.S. (mentor)
Melles, M. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

2014-06-05

In 2016 the Prinses Maxima Centre will open it’s doors in Utrecht. It will become the largest paediatric oncology centre in Europe, aiming to function as a worldwide centre of reference, with a focus on research and innovation, education and, most importantly, excellent care. To achieve this, the care process should be built around the patient and it’s family. Taking into account physical, but also psychological, cognitive and social needs of the patient and its family. This means that parents should be actively involved into the care team in order to achieve an optimal flow of information and knowledge about the child. But how do you involve in a meaningful way people who don’t have any medical knowledge? And most important of all, how do you get the rest of the team to recognize their value, and take them seriously? In the paediatric oncology team, just as in any other team, each member has his or her own specific responsibilities, expertise and knowledge. To be able to contribute in a meaningful and valuable way to the shared knowledge of the team, parents need to add their own little piece of expertise. Parents can play an important role in translating the emotional responses, attitudes and social needs of their child regarding subjects like medication intake, blood sample collection and nutrition. They can serve as an interpreter between child and paediatric oncology staff. What they need are the right tools that can trigger and support the communication of this type of information. Enabling them to solve problems like: “How do I get my child to take medication without making him cry?” The solution is sometimes as easy as: “sing him a song!” To support this interaction different concepts have been tested through iteration loops and one has emerged as final concept.

paediatric
oncology
teamwork
parental involvement
shared knowledge
communication

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:de6b2a6e-2e30-4eca-9de3-b535922c3f8b

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 Sarri, T.