POGO’s 2019 Seed Grant Recipients
Alisha Kassam, MD, MPH, FRCPC and Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Lillian Sung, MD, PhD
Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP & Mohammed Alquidimat
Alisha Kassam, MD, MPH, FRCPC and Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Project Title: Understanding End-of-Life Health Care Utilization in Adolescents and Young Adults with Advanced Cancer
Principal Investigator: Alisha Kassam, MD, MPH, FRCPC and Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Co-Investigators: Abha Gupta, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Adam Rapoport, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Amirrtha Srikanthan, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, CHE, Craig Earle, MD MSc FRCP(C), Kimberley Widger, RN, PhD, CHPCN(C), Rinku Sutradhar, PhD
Project Summary: The investigators hope to provide baseline data on the intensity of end-of-life care being delivered specifically to adolescents and young adults in Ontario.
Impact/Relevance: Data from this study will help identify vulnerable populations, inform clinicians and policy makers, and suggest future research interventions to improve the quality of palliative and end-of-life care delivered to adolescents and young adults with cancer.
Funding: $14,986.00
Project Title: Development and Validation of Proxy-report Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) and Self-report mini-SSPedi in Children Younger than Eight Years.
Principal Investigator: Lillian Sung, MD, PhD
Co-Investigators: Deborah Tomlinson, RN, MN, L. Lee Dupuis, RPh, PhD, Paul Gibson, MD, FRCPC, Donna Johnston, MD, FRCPC
Project Summary: This project focuses on validating a symptom screening instrument for children receiving cancer treatments who are aged 2 to 7 years.
Impact/Relevance: Most children with cancer will experience severe and distressing treatment-related symptoms. This research is a first step toward improving symptom control in younger children with cancer by enabling them to communicate bothersome symptoms to family members and providers.
Funding: $14,980.00
Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP & Mohammed Alquidimat, PhD Student (Nursing)
Project Title: Validating a Questionnaire to Assess the Use of Complementary Health Approaches Among Children with Cancer and Their Parents
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP
Co-Investigators: Mohammad Alqudimat, PhD Student (Nursing), Karine Toupin April, PhD, Lindsy Jibb, RN, PhD, Paul Nathan, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Charles Victor, MSc
Project Summary: Using a phased approach, the investigators will conduct electronic surveys with experts to determine how to modify the items of the existing questionnaire. Youth with cancer, parents of youth with cancer, and cancer healthcare providers will then take part in individual interviews to determine what changes should be made. The questionnaire will be modified based on the results of each round of interviews.
Impact/Relevance: The proposed study will provide an instrument that will enable healthcare providers to initiate clinical discussions about the benefits and potential harms of complementary health approaches (CHA). Routine use of this instrument may help healthcare providers and researchers to determine what approaches are being used and which may be helpful, thus leading to the development of a new CHA research agenda for pediatric oncology.
Funding: $ 14,999.00