Better communication should lead to more appropriate care for young cancer patients

"The goal is to improve communication between young cancer patients (between 10 and 18 years old), their parents and the medical staff, and thereby also optimise care," says Anne van Driessche, third-year doctoral candidate at VUB and a researcher in the BOOST programme, led by VUB Professor Kim Beernaert. Every 15 minutes, somewhere in Europe, parents are told that their child has cancer. Despite the considerably less pessimistic outlook at diagnosis compared to a few decades ago, cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease in children. Research and the results obtained are improving rapidly, but cancer treatment remains a very serious matter. The UZ Brussel is therefore participating with other university hospitals in the BOOST research programme, through which care providers want to better attune the care process to the needs of patients and parents and make it easier for adolescent cancer patients to discuss difficult issues. "We see in practice that this communication is sometimes difficult. Parents want to shield their children from the harsh reality, and children try to spare their parents and sometimes play down what they are going through.