Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group has funded two new research projects that support non-traditional researchers trying to improve childhood cancer care.
These are the first projects funded through the Research Bursaries for Nursing and Allied Health Professionals, a new scheme which provides funding for professions that don’t traditionally carry out research. Jo Stark, CCLG Chief Nurse said:
These projects highlight the crucial role that nurses and allied health professionals, like dietitians and physiotherapists, play in childhood cancer care.
In hospitals, we approach childhood cancer as a team, recognising the importance of each team member.
It is exciting to see this mentality growing within the research field. Different professions see different sides of childhood cancer and therefore see different problems and needs. The whole childhood cancer team is needed in research so that we can care for every aspect of a child’s cancer journey.
Laura Sealy, Lead Oncology Dietitian at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, aims to improve nutrition support for children with osteosarcoma. Debbi Rowley, Advanced Physiotherapist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, will explore the potential of ‘prehabilitation’, meaning changes to diet or exercise, to prepare children for stem cell transplants.
How can we most effectively support the nutrition of children with osteosarcoma?
In her project, Laura is looking at the best way to support the nutrition of children and young people with osteosarcoma. She’ll be comparing differences in the type and timing of nutrition support between her hospital and at least one other principal treatment centre. Laura expressed her excitement about the new project:
This funding means a lot to me. I've spent the past eight years seeing how hard it is for children and teenagers to cope with the nutrition-related effects of cancer and chemotherapy. I have been frustrated at not being able to do more without good evidence to guide me.
That makes this project exciting because it has the potential to change nutritional advice and care of patients for the better.
Better nutrition during treatment is really important. It could help patients feel better in themselves, reduce their chance of infections and even help them cope with treatment better.
Laura hopes that her initial results will lead to a larger research project that can test the best option for nutrition support.
Find out more about Laura's project
Could prehabilitation help prepare children with cancer for a stem cell transplant?
Debbi will be looking at whether prehabilitation could help prepare children for haematopoietic stem cell transplants. She said:
This project is about scoping evidence and finding the gaps in the current research we have. By doing this, we can identify future research that may improve children’s lives in the future.
For example, if there’s no current evidence about prehabilitation, do we need to design a project that could tell us whether it is useful or not?
I will also talk to professionals, children and young people, and their families. My goal is to understand whether there is a window of opportunity for prehabilitation, and what it might look like for this group.
Ultimately, Debbi hopes to understand when and where prehabilitation should be used in a patient’s cancer journey. Her findings will be used to develop guidelines and design a prehabilitation programme. Talking about the importance of multi-professional research, Debbi said:
It’s incredible to have this opportunity to potentially impact the outcome of children’s care. Without this funding, I wouldn’t have the time in my day-to-day clinical work to explore this fully.
All healthcare professionals should have the opportunity to research things that matter to children and young people with cancer. We need to understand what best practice is in all aspects and professions so that we can support children and young people fully.