Integration of Palliative Care in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant: Pediatric Patient and Parent Needs and Attitudes

Early integration of palliative care (PC) in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has demonstrated benefits, yet barriers remain, including perceived lack of patient/caregiver receptivity despite no data on attitudes toward PC and limited patient/caregiver reported outcomes in pediatric HCT. This study aimed to evaluate perceived symptom burden and patient/parent attitudes toward early PC integration in pediatric HCT. Following IRB approval, consent/assent, eligible participants were surveyed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital including English-speaking patients aged 10–17, 1-month to 1-year from HCT, and their parents/primary-caregivers, as well as parent/primary-caregivers of living HCT recipients