Current Research Studies

Our goals in this study are to better understand the nature and intensity of stress, as well as current rates and types of mental health service use, for families with a child in treatment for pediatric cancer in the Bass Center at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. In addition to coming to terms with and coping with the initial blow of a cancer diagnosis, the treatment process immediately and broadly affects family rhythms, schedules, moods, and relationships. Understanding the needs and current rates of mental health services will directly inform and develop the delivery of psychosocial intervention strategies for specific aspects of family stress. This study will also work with physicians, specifically Fellows in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatric Oncology, to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to integrate systemic, structural, and strategic ways of working with families in a physical health treatment setting. We will pilot this curriculum during a day-long workshop for Fellows.