Introduction
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Children with cancer take many oral drugs throughout their
treatment. The family's knowledge and understanding of their child's treatment is an
essential first step in achieving compliance. A parent medication scheme was introduced to
address these issues. The scheme was evaluated and expanded to bone marrow transplant
patients. |
Objectives
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- To evaluate the educational needs of paediatric oncology patients and their families
with regard to drug therapy.
- To develop and initiate a parent/ self-medication scheme.
- To evaluate the scheme after a period of one year.
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Methodology
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- Evaluation of the need for a scheme using a questionnaire to parents of paediatric
oncology patients.
- Protocol development in liaison with medical and nursing staff.
- Preparation of patient information leaflets.
- Scheme initiation.
- Scheme evaluation after twelve months.
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Results
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The scheme has been in operation for 18 months and over 50
patients have been recruited. Evaluation showed:
- Acceptance of the scheme
- Improved confidence in drug administration
- Increased knowledge of drug treatments.
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Developments
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- The scheme has been expanded to cover the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.
- More drug information leaflets have been developed.
- The drug administration chart has been extended for home use.
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Conclusion
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- A parent/self-medication scheme has been successfully initiated on the Paediatric
Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Units at St. James's University Hospital, Leeds.
- The scheme has been accepted by families and has been shown to address their educational
needs.
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