"Look at You Having Fun With Your Markers in Here!": Child Life Specialists' Countering of Infantilizating Narratives in Adult Oncology.

Child life specialists are clinically trained and educated healthcare professionals who work in both healthcare environments and the community to address the needs of ill children and their families. However, child life specialists have previously reported potential for their role, responsibilities, and scope of practice to be misunderstood by their clinical colleagues. Using a narrative methodology, this paper presents the composite narrative of Diane, whose story encompasses the stories of the four child life specialists working in adult oncology environments in Ontario, Canada.

Integration of child life into adult oncology: A mixed-methods feasibility study.

Background: Cancer in a loved one can have negative effects on child health and development. Child Life Specialists (CLSs) specialize in assisting children understand and cope with difficult medical scenarios but are generally not available in adult care facilities to support the needs of patient-families with minor children. We conducted a mixed-methods study of the implementation of a pilot CLS program at a tertiary oncology centre.

"There's So Much More Support We Could Have Provided": Child Life Specialists' Stories of the Challenges Working in Adult Oncology.

A cancer diagnosis in patients who are parents of minor children is uniquely stressful for both parents and children. Children need developmentally appropriate information and support to help reduce their fears and worries. Child life specialists (CLSs) are health professionals who work in pediatric environments to support children and families with the stress and uncertainty of illnesses.

Role of gabapentin in reducing the need for high-risk medications in patients with stable severe neurological impairment.

Objective: The study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of pain behaviors in children with severe neurological impairment (SNI), as well as the use of prescribed pain behavior medications, and the effects of gabapentin initiation on behaviors and use.

Methods: A pre-post study was conducted on data from 11 patients with SNI who received gabapentin at a children's hospital in Canada. Symptoms and the use of high-risk pain behavior medications were assessed before and after gabapentin initiation and titration.

Children's Health Care Utilization and Cost in the Last Year of Life: A Cohort Comparison with and without Regional Specialist Pediatric Palliative Care.

Research remains inconclusive regarding the impact of specialist pediatric palliative care (SPPC) on health care utilization and cost. To better understand and quantify the impact of regional SPPC services on children's health care utilization and cost near end of life. A retrospective cohort study used administrative databases to compare outcomes for child decedents (age 31 days to 19 years) from two similar regions in Ontario, Canada between 2010 and 2014, wherein one region had SPPC services (SPPC+) and the other did not (SPPC-).

Staffing a Specialist Palliative Care Service, a Team-Based Approach: Expert Consensus White Paper.

Palliative care is an evolving field with extensive studies demonstrating its benefits to patients, families, and the health care system. Many health systems have developed or are developing palliative care programs. The Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) is often asked to recommend how many palliative care specialists are needed to implement and support an integrated palliative care program.

VIncristine, irinotecan, and temozolomide in children and adolescents with relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma.

Background: The combination of vincristine, irinotecan, and temozolomide (VIT) is often used to treat children and adolescents with relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS); however, the outcome of these patients has not been previously described.

Procedures: We sought to determine the response rate (RR) and progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with relapsed RMS treated with VIT by retrospective review of patients treated at five tertiary care hospitals. Prior treatment with irinotecan was permitted.