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Human Suffering: The Need for Relationship-Based Research in Pediatric End-of-Life Care

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology Oncology Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospice, San Antonio, TX, kane{at}uthscsa.edu

Melody Brown Hellsten, APRN-BC, PNP

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology Oncology Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, San Antonio, TX

Rev. April Coldsmith

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, San Antonio, TX

Children living with and dying from advanced cancer and their families experience significant suffering. The cure of disease and the relief of suffering are dual moral obligations of our professions. To relieve suffering, health care providers must understand the multiple dimensions of the person who suffers and the complex set of relationships within the natural and the clinical social networks. Pediatric oncology research must include appropriately designed studies with sound methodology and measurement strategies to test and refine theories that account for the link between human relationships and the relief of suffering. Studies should assess as many theoretical models as possible, including the social network, perceptions of support, and provider-recipient interactions; their physical, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual concomitants; and their impact on medical decision making and health outcomes. Future directions in pediatric end-of-life care research must also include evaluating social and spiritual interventions developed on the basis of solid hypotheses regarding the positive and negative influences of interpersonal dynamics on the processes that mediate between suffering and well-being.

Key Words: suffering • relationships • social support • spiritual support • pediatric cancer • palliative care

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