Project Team
Michelle Fortier, PhD
Professor, UCI, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing
Yasmin Gomez
Mothers of children with cancer advisory board
A community-based approach to the development of a palliative care model for Latinx families of children with cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children and the overwhelming majority of children with cancer experience significant pain that negatively impacts quality of life. Children have less access to palliative care services and although efforts have been made to improve access, significant racial and ethnic disparities exist and show that Latinx families, the largest growing minoritized population in the US, receive and/or are referred to palliative care interventions less often compared to non-Latinx White families. Thus, addressing racial/ethnic barriers to palliative care for children and families facing serious illness is imperative.
Accordingly, the overall goal of this project is to utilize community-based participatory research methods to collaboratively engage with community experts with lived experience – Spanish-speaking Latinx families impacted by childhood cancer – to develop a culturally adapted palliative care model that is acceptable, feasible, and culturally relevant to minimize racial/ethnic barriers in pediatric palliative care access and use.
Accordingly, the overall goal of this project is to utilize community-based participatory research methods to collaboratively engage with community experts with lived experience – Spanish-speaking Latinx families impacted by childhood cancer – to develop a culturally adapted palliative care model that is acceptable, feasible, and culturally relevant to minimize racial/ethnic barriers in pediatric palliative care access and use.
