Home-Based Management of Pediatric Cancer Pain

Between 2008-2012 over 75,000 children and adolescents across North America were diagnosed with cancer. The most common and problematic symptom reported by children with the disease is pain. Parents have become increasingly responsible for assessing and treating their children's cancer pain but little is known about what they do at home. This study aims to understand how parents assess and treat pain in children who have cancer. Understanding what parents currently do to manage cancer pain in their children may help researchers and clinicians develop new practices to ensure that all children with cancer have their pain properly controlled even if they are at home. This work advances knowledge in an area of research that has been identified as an important international goal in the fight against cancer. In 2013 The World Cancer Declaration identified the, "universal availability of pain control and distress management", as one of its 9 key targets, making this work of understanding how parents manage their children's cancer pain a top research priority worldwide.